Immigration officials at Sialkot International Airport intercepted a passenger who attempted to travel to Europe using forged documents after boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia under the pretext of performing Umrah. The traveller, identified as Muhammad Abu Bakar, was offloaded from flight PF-720 when routine questioning produced unclear answers, prompting further checks of his mobile phone and hand-carried bag.
Inspectors noticed a black laptop and on detailed examination recovered two counterfeit Spanish cards hidden behind the laptop’s LED panel — a fake residence card and a fabricated health card — which investigators say were intended to facilitate illegal entry into Spain. During interrogation Abu Bakar admitted he had struck a deal with an agent in Wazirabad for Rs9.2 million to reach Spain by first flying to Jeddah, destroying his Pakistani documents there, and then travelling via Turkey.
FIA Sialkot described the incident as a well-planned human smuggling bid that was foiled before it could progress. The passenger was transferred to FIA Composite Circle Sialkot for legal proceedings while investigators work to trace and arrest the agent and other members of the network, saying the probe will be expanded as they believe the case is not isolated.
In a separate event in Gujranwala, Director FIA Gujranwala Zone Muhammad Bin Ashraf presided over a modest promotion ceremony where 11 officers received higher ranks. Present at the event were Deputy Director Sialkot Airport Muhammad Riaz Khan and Deputy Director Circle Gujranwala Rana Shehbaz Ahmed Khan, and badges were pinned as ASI Imran Anwar was promoted to Sub-Inspector and several Head Constables were elevated to Assistant Sub-Inspector, including Hafeez Rehman, Mian Waheed, Taimoor Siddiqui, Muhammad Ashraf, Yasir Idrees, Tahir Zulfiqar, Waseem Ahmed, Matee-ur-Rehman and Samiullah.
Addressing the promoted personnel, the director congratulated them but underlined increased responsibility, saying “Promotion is not just a reward, it is a test. You have to work with honesty and avoid negligence during duty.” He also instructed officers to ensure merit in their work and to treat citizens respectfully. The ceremony concluded simply with tea for participants.
