The Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Circle has arrested nine suspects for their alleged role in blackmailing citizens after lending them money through online lending apps, spokesperson for the agency said.

Nine suspects were arrested from a plaza situated at Saidpur Road, Rawalpindi and several offices of the company have also been sealed on Friday, he added.

The FIA has registered a first information report of the crime where it nominated 19 suspects, the official said, adding that raids are being carried out to arrest the remaining suspects booked by the police for their alleged involvement in the crime.

Salman Sufi, Head of Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Strategic Reforms in a tweet claimed that few foreign nationals had also been employed by the loan shark company.

“All their data/devices are being forensically audited,” he added.

The accused would be given targets on a daily basis to call citizens, he said, adding that each of the accused would be assigned a task of making 100 to 150 calls on a daily basis.

Several sections were built in the office premises, where the suspects used to make calls to the affected citizens to pay back the original amount along with hefty interest.

They would also constantly call the friends and relatives of the affected citizens to exert more pressure.

Salman Sufi, Head of Prime Minister of Pakistan’s Strategic Reforms on Friday said that the company which is responsible for this loan sharking has been raided by FIA and its offices have been sealed.

“This is a systemic issue which requires a proper legislation and strict enforcement, we will be working with SECP [Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan], FIA, SBP [State Bank of Pakistan] to end this menacing and corrupt business,” he wrote on Twitter.

The spokesperson went on to add that the representatives of the lending app would access personal data of the affected citizen, which would then be used to harass them. A large number of documents, computers, laptops, SIMs were recovered during the raid, he stated.

A crackdown against digital lending apps was initiated by the FIA after a man from Rawalpindi reportedly committed suicide as he faced harassment and threats from the representatives of the lending apps.

Muhammad Masood, 42, who was unemployed for the last six months, had taken loans from an online lending app to pay his children’s school fee and house rent.

A father of two, Masood was being threatened by the representatives of the lending app as he could not pay back the money, his wife said.