The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has raided an illegal mobile SIM card franchise in Lahore, recovering thousands of digital fingerprints allegedly sold by colluding NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) employees.

Five individuals, including the franchise owner, were arrested in the raid conducted on Rajput Road, Shad Bagh. Authorities seized data containing 11,000 digital fingerprints, which were used to issue thousands of fraudulent SIM cards.

A case, number 34/2025, has been registered under the complaint of the Zonal Director of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). According to Additional Director Chaudhry Sarfraz, the 11,000 individuals’ fingerprints— totaling 110,000 individual fingerprint records—were sold by corrupt NADRA employees.

The FIA also recovered five BVS (Biometric Verification System) devices, 1,500 paper fingerprints, a laptop, and a scanner from the suspects. The PTA is preparing a technical report on the seized equipment.

The data recovered included the identity card details of citizens from Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.