Shahzeb murder case: FIA traces ‘ghost passenger’ to Dubai

Syed Shahrukh travelled to UAE without being on immigration record: interim charge sheet.

KARACHI:

Flight No EK-605 had a ‘ghost’ onboard who travelled for two hours with 138 passengers but remained invisible in the immigration authorities’ record.

After 48 days, the investigators have finally identified the ghost passenger as Shahrukh Jatoi, who is wanted as the main suspect in Shahzeb murder case.

The details of how Shahrukh Jatoi managed to board a flight to Dubai surfaced in the interim charge sheet submitted by the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) before Judicial Magistrate, Malir, Hasan Ali Kalwar, on Wednesday. The charge sheet was submitted by Assistant Director, Mirza Anwar Adil, and Inspector Saeed Ahmed Memon of the FIA, Anti Human Trafficking (AHT) Circle Karachi.

According to the charge sheet, the documentary evidence – Alphabetical Advance Passenger Information (API) – security list and electronic ticket list of Emirates Airlines flight EK-605 that departed on December 27 at 5:40 hours from Jinnah International Airport Karachi revealed that 139 passengers, including five infants were onboard. The computerised record IBMS of API, however, confirms that 138 passengers, one passenger short of Emirates flight, travelled by the said flight.

API record shows that a passenger, Syed Shahrukh, checked-in on the said flight with seat No 33D, did not have his immigration clearance as per FIA, IBMS records, the charge sheet revealed. It established that the said passenger by hoodwinking the immigration staff has by-passed immigration counters by impersonating and under fraudulent means, said the charge sheet.



Memon stated that Sohail Ahmed, a travel consultant of Fazal-e-Rabi (Pvt) Ltd, had facilitated the suspect in his escape from Pakistan under the name of Syed Shahrukh.

“Ahmed was bound to obtain the copy of passport or any other ID from the passenger for issuance of international ticket,” said Memon, “but he issued the ticket without passport and with an intention to hide the identification of Shahrukh Sikandar he didn’t mention passport number on air ticket.”

Muhammad Taha Hussain, check-in agent of Gerry’s Dnata (Pvt) Ltd, checked-in passenger Syed Shahrukh at 04:26 hours on December 27 by issuing boarding card in his name, the charge sheet said. “There was no passenger having the name Syed Shahrukh who was to travel by the flight that day, rather Shahrukh Sikandar (Jatoi) travelled on that flight,” Memon revealed in the charge sheet.

Taha facilitated Shahrukh Jatoi by issuing boarding pass under wrongful documentation and manipulating the facts and records as evident from the API record. Taha entered the passport, No AL4101012, into the system with the name of passenger Syed Shahrukh which actually belonged to one namely Muhammad Ali Khan, a resident of Charbagh Serai in Swabi district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Memon told the court that reference has been moved to the consul general of Pakistan in Dubai and ministry of foreign affairs seeking information that on which kind of visa did Shahrukh enter into UAE and who sponsored the visa from Dubai including the particulars of Pakistani agent who arranged the visa from the sponsor.

Memon asked the court for more time to investigate. The judge allowed seven more days to complete investigations ‘as last chance’ and ordered to submit final charge sheet.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2013.