• PM directs stern action against traffickers, seeks report on incidents involving Pakistani nationals
• FIA registers six more cases, detains two suspects in crackdown on human smugglers
GUJRAT: As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought a report on cases of human trafficking involving Pakistani nationals, the death toll from the boat capsize tragedy off the coast of Greece rocketed to 40 after rescue efforts by Greek authorities to find survivors, including 35 missing Pakistanis, ended without any success on Wednesday.
Authorities in Pakistan on Tuesday had confirmed the deaths of five people belonging to Sialkot, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, and Narowal districts. The 35 missing citizens were presumed dead on Wednesday, taking the tally to 40.
On the other hand, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered six more cases against suspects allegedly involved in transporting the victims from Punjab to Libya from where they were sent off on boats to Greece. The FIA authorities have ‘sealed’ the FIRs purportedly to conceal the identity of local facilitators.
Sources said three cases were registered with the Gujrat and Gujranwala circles of the FIA, adding that two more suspects were arrested in connection with the boat accident on Wednesday. The total number of people detained so far is four.
An FIA official told Dawn that at least four different teams — two each in Gujrat and Gujranwala circles — had been constituted to trace and arrest the human traffickers and their local facilitators.
Of five people, whose deaths were confirmed by the government, two belonged to Pasrur, a tehsil of Sialkot; while one each hailed from the Gujrat, Narowal, and Mandi Bahauddin districts. The fifth death was reported on Tuesday and the victim was identified as Muhammad Shabeer of Gakharkey village of Narowal.
Locals in Heelan village of Mandi Bahauddin, meanwhile, claimed that five youths from their village were also among the missing. The family of another victim Awais of Uddu Fateh village of Pasrur said he was also missing.
