After the arrest of five citizens from Mirpurkhas, another five were booked in Gujranwala and Gujrat cities of Punjab for allegedly working in Israel in violation of the country’s laws, Pakistan’s investigative agency said on Monday.
It alleged that the suspects, currently residing in Israel, have made 188 remittance transactions through the Mirpurkhas Post Office from Israel.
This takes the total registered cases to 10 as five Pakistani nationals were arrested on July 5 in Sindh’s district.
A report by the Federal Investigation Agency said that several families in Gujranwala and Gujrat along with many organisations have been receiving remittances from Israel.
The FIA in its report stated that despite the seriousness of the matter, the State Bank has not taken action against the suspects.
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The investigation agency sought a reply from the central bank along with the transaction record from Israel to Pakistan. It has recommended the formation of a joint investigation committee to further investigate the matter.
Sources said that those booked also included the Pakistani-national wife of an Israeli agent.
They claimed that the travel agent, Ishaq Amanat’s wife has been residing in Israel for the last four decades and has brought several Pakistani nationals to Israel.
Pakistani nationals cannot travel to Israel as the country does not recognise the State of Israel. The call for an independent Palestinian state is one of the most prominent aspects of country’s foreign policy.
The Pakistani passport explicitly states that it is valid in all countries except Israel.
Earlier in July, FIA spokesperson Abdul Ghafoor told Arab News that the operation to apprehend the five suspects in Mirpurkhas was initiated after authorities picked up a remittances trail and found evidence that they had been working in Israel for years.
“The suspects were working as helpers and car washers in Tel Aviv,” the FIA spokesperson said. “They stayed in Tel Aviv for four to seven years.”
The arrested suspects were booked for violating Pakistan’s Passport Act 1974 and the Emigration Ordinance 1979, according to the FIA.
As Pakistani passports are not valid in Israel, the suspects entered the country with the help of an Israeli agent.
“The suspects paid Rs300,000 to Rs400,000 ($1,090 to $1,453) per person to the Israeli agent,” the spokesperson said. “They would enter Israel through the Jordan airport on a Schengen visa.”
To enter Israel, the suspects would reach Jordan via Turkiye, Kenya and Sri Lanka. They would return to Pakistan from Jordan, transiting in Dubai.
