Pakistan: 214 FIA officers punished in four months amid entrenched corruption, human trafficking concerns

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 2 (ANI): Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has taken disciplinary action against 214 of its officials over the past four months in connection with cases of human trafficking, corruption, indiscipline and inefficiency, according to senior agency officials, Dawn reported on Friday.
The actions were taken amid a surge in complaints related to human smuggling and graft within the agency.
A senior FIA official said the crackdown followed the introduction of internal reforms, including the establishment of the Directorate of Internal Accountability (DIA) at FIA Headquarters in August 2025, as reported by Dawn.
Similar accountability units were also set up at the zonal level under the supervision of zonal directors.
The official stated that a strict accountability mechanism was introduced in the aftermath of deadly boat incidents in Europe and Africa, where a large number of Pakistani nationals lost their lives, adding that high-level enquiries later revealed the involvement of some FIA personnel in human smuggling networks, Dawn reported.
The official also cited a November 2025 International Monetary Fund report titled "Pakistan: Governance and Corruption Diagnostic", which highlighted corruption in public-sector institutions as a major cause of inefficiency.
To strengthen oversight, FIA Director General Riffat Mukhtar Raja delegated accountability powers to Additional Director Generals of the North and South Zones and to zonal directors, enabling them to take disciplinary action against officers up to Grade 16, as reported by Dawn.
In addition, the FIA developed an online accountability module to monitor the progress of enquiries from the complaint stage through disposal and appeal.
The official noted that the system allows senior officers to track investigations internally and ensure transparency.
As a result of these measures, departmental enquiries were conducted against officials ranging from constables to deputy directors. The official said around 20 per cent of punishments were related to immigration complaints, another 20 per cent involved faulty investigations, while nearly 40 per cent were imposed for indiscipline and inefficiency, as reported by Dawn.
A major reform involved consolidating all stages of accountability -- including preliminary, fact-finding and departmental enquiries -- under the DIA, removing them from the FIA's human resource wing. This, the official said, was done to avoid the concentration of powers and to give greater institutional importance to accountability.
Previously, fragmented structures made it difficult to track complaints and analyse data effectively, the official noted. The creation of the DIA has addressed these shortcomings and strengthened coordination between the FIA Director General and the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control, Dawn reported. (ANI)