KARACHI: MCC Preventive Karachi is expanding the circle of investigation towards the affairs of senior PIA management in Islamabad particularly pertaining to the recovery of heroin powder from the lavatory of a PIA aircraft flying from Islamabad to Dubai.
Meanwhile, MCC Preventive has submitted the final challan before the court establishing that three employees of M/s PIA were involved in attempting to transport contraband items by placing the same in the lavatory of the aircraft.
It is interested to note that these three employees including Sheikh Mohammad Akmal, Asad Jamil both cleaners in M/s PIA and Mohammad Sohail engineering helper were sacked by the management of M/s PIA on the basis of some internal investigation, but the Customs authorities were not informed about this development; even though an FIR had been lodged into this matter.
Sources said the above mentioned three sacked employees were just pawns, and the shot-caller was some senior officer because the cleaners/janitors only placed the heroin packets in the lavatory and they would not have any ‘setting’ at the Dubai airport where these packets were meant to be collected from the lavatory.
Sources said that it is suspected that some senior PIA officer was the main culprit who had connections with M/s PIA staff at Dubai airport, and the three employees were sacked without the knowledge of Pakistan Customs to protect the main culprits.
It may be mentioned here that PIA Aircraft Pk-211 made a technical landing at Karachi airport and on subsequent search/examination, 3.0 KG of heroin wrapped in packets were recovered from the toilets of the aircraft. FIR was lodged and investigation was started. Meanwhile, M/s PIA sacked three employees on the basis of their internal investigation for being involved in this heinous act.
Immediately after, MCC Preventive seized another 27KG of heroin from an aircraft initiated again from Islamabad. It may be mentioned here that M/s PIA staff and staff at Islamabad airport extended cooperation to the investigation, however information regarding the sacking of employees was not shared.
In the final challan, MCC Preventive has established that above mentioned three employees of M/s PIA were culprits, while further investigation is underway and court has been prayed that any subsequent development would be brought to the notice of court through supplementary challan/report.