Greece boat tragedy: DG FIA orders to further intensify crackdowns

ISLAMABAD: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Mohsin Hassan Butt has issued directives to further intensify crackdowns against human traffickers after the Greece boat tragedy in which dozens of Pakistanis were killed and missing, ARY News reported on Monday.

DG FIA Mohsin Hassan Butt chaired a high-level session at the agency’s headquarters in Islamabad today. A report was presented regarding the sorrowful boat accident off the coast of Greece last week.

During a briefing, the DG FIA has been told that three inquiries and six cases were lodged into the boat tragedy. Additionally, more than 20 cases were registered the alleged human traffickers besides arresting five accused from Gujrat, Gujranwala and Lahore.

The FIA director general ordered to further intensify crackdowns against human traffickers.

He said that the people associated with the heinous crime of human smuggling do not deserve pardon and their facilitators are also global criminals. He also directed the agency to take strict action against human trafficking content on social media.

Moreover, a separate session of the inter-agency task force has been summoned on Tuesday (tomorrow) to finalise a strategy to curb human trafficking for avoiding such a kind of incidents.

DG FIA Mohsin Hassan Butt also directed to expedite contacting the relatives of Pakistanis deceased or wounded in the Greece boat incident. He added that the agency should expedite the process of exchanging information from its link office in Greece.

READ: Greece boat disaster: 800 were on board, says police probe report

He ordered to conclude the probe into inquiries and cases against the human traffickers at the earliest.

The agency constituted separate teams in Lahore, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Rawalpindi to arrest the accused.

Pakistan is observing a day of mourning over the tragic deaths of its national in the ship sinking incident near the coast of Greece.

The national flag is flying at half-mast and special prayers are being offered for the deceased of the Greece ship tragedy.

At least 78 people were drowned when the ill-fated boat with reportedly 400 to 750 people onboard sank in the Mediterranean Sea near the Greek coast. Meanwhile, some 104 people were rescued and sent to Kalamata, Greece, as per to the latest media reports.