Kohat, 7 November, 2023(GNP): In a significant operation, the Hangu police apprehended six individuals linked to a criminal network responsible for the production of computerized national identity cards (CNICs) for Afghan refugees.
Among the arrested individuals were key figures, including a village council secretary and an employee of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office in Kohat.
District Police Officer Nisar Ahmed Khan, during a press conference, revealed that the arrested gang was illicitly creating CNICs by manipulating the civil registration management system (CRMS) numbers. The operation had the complicity of Khalid, a fugitive Nadra employee hailing from Sharkardarra, Kohat.
Furthermore, it was unveiled that this illicit operation had even succeeded in sending an individual to Saudi Arabia using a passport fabricated with a counterfeit CNIC obtained through the manipulation of CRMS numbers from the Nadra system.
As part of the ongoing investigation, the police will be collecting comprehensive information on all individuals who received Pakistani citizen cards through these unlawful means. Among the arrested culprits, Waleedur Rehman, secretary of Sarokhel village council in Hangu, was detained.
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The additional arrested individuals were identified as Afghan refugee Matiullah Khan, along with Pervez Khan and Islam Badshah from Kharishta Banda area in Hangu, Mohammad Zahoor from Kurram district, and Abid Javed from Togh Bala, Kohat. Ongoing efforts are in progress to apprehend the remaining eight members of the criminal network.
All arrested individuals have been charged under various sections of the Foreigners Act, including sections 109, 420, 419, 468, 164, and 162.
In a separate incident, Kohat police thwarted a theft attempt by arresting a three-member gang caught in the act of stealing pipes from an underground water supply scheme.
The thieves were in possession of equipment used to cut the pipes and had intended to transport them to Kalabagh in the neighboring Mianwali district of Punjab for resale.
The apprehended thieves, identified as Kabir, Khizar, and Ashiq, are residents of Shakardarra.
Lastly, Hangu police arrested a man who had committed murder by shooting his nephew inside his sister’s house. Wahid Gul, the accused, opened fire following a dispute with his sister and her sons, resulting in the fatality of his 12-year-old nephew, Saqib Jan, and injuries to another individual, Mohammad Imtiaz. Imtiaz, the injured party, nominated his uncle as the perpetrator of the crime. The arrest of the accused took place in the Warasta area.
In a tragic incident, a young boy tragically took his own life due to the immense grief of losing his brother, who lost his life after a bullet from a pistol he was playing with accidentally killed him. The family, originally from the Khanewal area of Punjab, resides in the Ghamkol Afghan refugee camp.
