Family en route to Saudi Arabia for begging arrested at Faisalabad airport

FAISALABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday arrested a family traveling to Saudi Arabia for ‘begging’ from Faisalabad airport, ARY News reported.

The spokesperson of FIA immigration revealed that the same family was offloaded from Lahore Airport last month.

The spokesman revealed that the arrested individuals – identified as Munawar Hussain and Shafia Bibi, along with their minor daughter – had been traveling frequently to Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia for the purpose of begging.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the individuals failed to provide legitimate sources of income or satisfactory explanations for the expenses incurred during their multiple foreign trips.

The FIA also noted that the accused had no tax return record in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and lacked a return ticket or hotel bookings, prompting their transfer to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Faisalabad for further legal proceedings.

It’s worth noting that last month, FIA Immigration arrested 11 individuals, including 8 women, at Karachi Airport traveling to Saudi Arabia for begging under the guise of performing Umrah.

These individuals were offloaded as their return tickets and hotel bookings were found to be fake.