FIA arrests three NADRA officials in a major Balochistan fake passport scandal involving over 7,600 illegally issued passports to Afghan nationals.
Three officials of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have been arrested in Balochistan in connection with a major scandal involving the issuance of Pakistani passports to Afghan nationals, sources said.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the arrests were made after Pakistani passports recovered from Afghan citizens in a Gulf country were traced back to fraudulent approvals within Pakistan.
Those arrested include Assistant Director Syed Anwar Shah, Junior Executive Syed Akhtar Shah, and Assistant Director Chaman Zone Khawaja Waqas. The officials were taken into custody on the orders of Judicial Magistrate-7 in Quetta.
Sources revealed that Afghan nationals had obtained Pakistani identity cards and passports in exchange for large sums of money.
The Afghan Embassy in Saudi Arabia returned a total of 12,096 Pakistani passports to the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh, all of which had been submitted by Afghan citizens. During verification, 7,613 passports were found to have been illegally issued to foreign nationals through the collusion of NADRA and immigration personnel — a development that severely damaged Pakistan’s international credibility.
FIA sources said that an earlier arrest had also been made in the case, involving a NADRA officer named Ali Ahmed, who was found to have approved identity cards for 60 foreign nationals. With new evidence emerging during the investigation, three additional officials have now been detained.
According to NADRA insiders, one of the arrested officers is also facing a separate inquiry over allegations of selling citizens’ personal data.
