Main ‘human trafficker’ arrested in Sheikhupura after Greece boat tragedy
Pakistan to observe day of mourning over death of nationals in Greece shipwreck incident,
ISLAMABAD/SHEIKHUPURA – The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday claimed to have arrested a key human trafficker involved in sending people abroad from Sheikhupura days after dozens of migrants drowned off the coast of Greece.
The investigation agency apprehended the key suspect, Talha Shahzaib, from Sheikhupura. He had received Rs6.5 million from Zahid Akbar, resident of Farooqabad for sending him abroad.
The arrest came hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered crackdown on agents engaged in the human trafficking.Anti-Trafficking Circle Gujrat Sunday arrested the human trafficking agent responsible for the deaths of people in the Greece Boat accident, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The trafficking agent, Muhammad Shabbir belongs to Wazirabad and has charged Rs2.3 million from each victim for his travelling to Greece.
Shabbir was arrested upon being informed by the affected families and a case has been filed against him in the FIA.
However, the names of the 12 lucky survivors of the boat drowning accident have surfaced and the Pakistan Embassy has contacted them with their families. The survivors belonged to Kotli in Kashmir, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Mandi Bahauddin and Sialkot. Their names are Muhammad Adnan Bashir, Haseeb-ur-Rahman from Kotli, Muhammad Hamza and Zeeshan Sarwar from Gujranwala, Azmat Khan and Usman Siddique from Gujrat, Muhammad Sunny and Zahid Akbar from Sheikhupura, Rana Hussain, Irfan Ahmad and Imran Arain from Sialkot and Mehtab Ali from Mandi Bahauddin.
The Pakistani Embassy stated that the corpses found are unidentifiable and DNA samples from their families have been taken to match with that of the dead bodies for identification. They also said that the rescue operations which were going on to find them have been stopped now.
The valley of Kashmir is mourning the death of the Kashmiri men in the accident. The families seemed to be grieving and said that they know nothing about the whereabouts of the victims. They also said that no official has contacted them as of yet and their FIRs are also not being filed.
Earlier,
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the observance of a day of mourning on June 19 in honour of Pakistani nationals who lost their lives after a ship carrying migrants sank off the coast of Greece on 14th June.
The PM Office Media Wing, in a press statement issued, stated that the national flag would fly at half-mast on that day, and special prayers would be offered for the deceased.
“On the unfortunate incident of 14th June 2023, where a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece, resulting in the deaths of Pakistani/AJK nationals and other individuals, the Prime Minister, while expressing his grief and taking it seriously, has decided to establish an Inquiry Committee,” the notification read.
The committee will be chaired by Director National Police Bureau Ehsan Sadiq, with Additional Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Africa) Javed Ahmad Umrani, DIG Azad Jammu and Kashmir Police Region Poonch Sardar Zaheer Ahmad, and Joint Secretary Interior Division (FIA) Faisal Nisar Ch. as its members.
The inquiry committee has been given one week to submit its report.
The notification further stated that the committee’s responsibilities include determining the facts of the Greece boat tragedy, identifying loopholes and lapses in Pakistan’s legal and enforcement mechanisms that exposed precious human lives to human trafficking, analysing similar past incidents and actions taken, assessing the existing legal framework and enforcement measures, and preparing short- and long-term recommendations to combat human trafficking, including legislation, awareness campaigns, and improvement of national and international coordination.
The goal is to apprehend agents, facilitators, masterminds, and criminal networks involved in human trafficking and eradicate this menace.
