Family of Beggars Arrested Before Flight to Saudi Arabia
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) apprehended a family at Faisalabad Airport on Friday while they were preparing to board a flight to Saudi Arabia, accused of engaging in begging activities, as reported by ARY News.
An FIA immigration spokesperson revealed that this same family had been previously offloaded from Lahore Airport last month. The arrested individuals, identified as Munawar Hussain, Shafia Bibi, and their minor daughter, have reportedly made frequent trips to Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia under the pretext of begging.
The FIA noted that the family was unable to provide valid sources of income or reasonable justifications for their repeated international travel expenses. Additionally, they had no tax records with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and lacked both a return ticket and hotel reservations. As a result, the family has been transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Faisalabad for further investigation.
This incident follows a previous case in which the FIA detained 11 individuals, including eight women, at Karachi Airport for attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia for begging while masquerading as Umrah pilgrims. They were offloaded after authorities discovered that their return tickets and hotel bookings were fraudulent.
