Three National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) officers were arrested in Balochistan for their alleged role in a major fake passport scheme that involved Afghan nationals.
According to officials of the Federal Investigation Agency, the detained officers include Assistant Director Syed Anwar Shah, Junior Executive Syed Akhtar Shah and Assistant Director for the Chaman Zone Khawaja Waqas. FIA personnel took the officers into custody on the basis of arrest warrants issued by Quetta’s Judicial Magistrate 7.
Sources said that Afghan nationals secured Pakistani identity cards and passports in exchange for large payments. The Afghan Embassy in Saudi Arabia returned 12,096 Pakistani passports to the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh after Afghan citizens deposited them there. During verification, officials identified 7,613 passports that were unlawfully issued to foreign nationals through collusion between Nadra and immigration staff, a development that damaged Pakistan’s international credibility.
FIA officials said that investigators had already arrested another Nadra officer, Ali Ahmad, in connection with the approval of identity cards for 60 foreign nationals. The latest arrests followed the recovery of further evidence during the ongoing inquiry. According to Nadra sources, one of the newly arrested officers also faces a separate investigation into allegations of selling citizens’ data.
