• Nadra chief says action taken against 84 staff members. 
• Says employees escape punishment due to absence of law. 
• PTA arrests five in Peshawar for issuing illegal SIMs.

ISLAMABAD: National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Lieutenant General Munir Afsar informed senators that some of his organisation’s staff were involved in the issuance of fake Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs), reported The News on Thursday.

The Nadra chief made the revelation while addressing the Senate Committee on Interior when it took up the issue of fake CNICs, availability of citizens’ family data in the black market and issuance of multiple SIMs on a single CNIC, which are being used in illegal activities. 

The meeting was chaired by Senator Mohsin Aziz.

The Nadra chairman informed the lawmakers that action was taken against the employees engaged in any form of illegal activity, with around 84 officials suspended, so far.

“However, employees escape punishment due to the absence of a law dealing with privacy matters,” he told the committee. The Senate panel recommended modern measures to address these issues.

5 arrested for issuing illegal SIMs to Afghans

Separately, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced that five people were arrested in a joint raid with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle against a mobile phone company franchisee located on Kohat Road, Peshawar.

The authority said that the suspects were involved in issuing of illegal SIMs against Afghan passports.

“Reportedly, the franchisee was being run by an Afghan national and the activated SIMs were being sold to Afghan nationals for Rs.3000 each,” said the PTA. 

Apart from this, five laptops and eight mobile phones, containing scanned passport data, were also seized

The PTA said it was the 12th such raid of the year.

Following an increase in terrorism incidents, Pakistan has given a November 1 deadline to all illegal Afghans living in Pakistan to go back to their homeland.

Sarfraz Bugti, the caretaker interior minister, said that Pakistan’s crackdown on illegal Afghan immigrants is necessary because Afghan nationals have carried out 14 out of 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year, and eight of the 11 militants involved in recent attacks on two Pakistani military installations were Afghans.