Human trafficking: FIA raids travel agency

KARACHI: The Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of the Federal Investigation Agency apprehended on Saturday the owner of a local travel agency on charges of running it illegally. Officers claimed to have seized fake documents.

The Asian Holiday Travel Agency in Shafi Court near Hotel Metropole was raided and owner Zeeshan was held. “We caught him red-handed and also seized fake documents,” said the cell’s additional director Asif Ejaz Sheikh. “Only Zeeshan was there at the time of the raid. We are questioning him to see if he ran it with other people as well.”

During the initial course of questioning, officials claimed that Zeeshan had confessed that he had been running the agency for six years and had sent people abroad on fake documentation. Sheikh said that Zeeshan had also cheated several people who had complained to the cell.

The team said it seized 19 colourful copies of passports, three bank statements, one bank stamp, visa application-coloured copies and other material.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2011.