The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted an interim challan (charge sheet) in court against Sarim Burney and his Sarim Burney Welfare Trust International in a case pertaining to “child trafficking by way of illegal adoption” on the complaint of US authorities.

According to the challan submitted to the Judicial Magistrate East court, Sarim’s trust was not registered under the Sindh Child Protection Authority. The agency has alleged that the philanthropist took $3,000 in exchange for a girl and he has “confessed to this in court.”

Furthermore, Sarim is also accused of changing the names of children along with his associates Basalt Ali Khan and Humaira and concealing the real identities of the parents in the documents submitted to the family court. Afsheen, the real mother of one of the children, has stated in her statement that the social activist was aware that she was the mother of the child.

The challan alleged that the activist was aware that Bushra Kanwal, the woman who had allegedly sold a child to Madeeha through monetary means, and Ayaz Khan were not the child’s biological parents. Despite this knowledge, the accused “did not return” the child to its rightful mother and instead facilitated the child’s adoption by an American family without the consent of the biological mother.

The FIA’s investigation further revealed that Kanwal and Khan have also leveled similar allegations against Sarim in their statement. The accused and his alleged accomplices are accused of providing false documents and concealing the facts to enable the smuggling of such children, which were then presented in the family court.

While the challan stated that the accused failed to submit affidavits, the investigation remains ongoing. The authorities are yet to apprehend Naz and Basalat, and further probe was under way to examine the documents of six additional children involved in the case. The final challan is expected to incorporate all the details of the complex scheme.