ISLAMABAD – At least 12,000 Pakistani passports have been recovered from Afghan nationals in Saudi Arabia, and the Kingdom notified the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh about the recovery.
The development comes as Pakistan started a stern crackdown against dodgy elements involved in the issuance of fake citizenship documents to illegal migrants in South Asian nation, especially to Afghan nationals.
Saudi DG Immigration and Passports chief Mustafa Kazi and the FIA jointly launched investigation into this matter.
Following the investigations, the key suspect, Umar Javed, was held in Lahore for his involvement in the issuance of fake passports.
After the arrest of Javed, a former officer and a serving grade-15 officer of the Passport Directorate was also included in probe.
Local media reports suggest that Pakistani passports were issued to Afghan nationals on counterfeit identity cards.
