FIA arrests four NADRA officials over alleged fake IDs for Afghan nationals

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) announced on Wednesday that it has taken into custody four individuals linked to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) over accusations of producing falsified identity documents for Afghan nationals living in Pakistan.

According to the FIA spokesperson, the arrests took place in Karachi and include two senior NADRA officers – Assistant Director Imamul Haq and Deputy Assistant Director Fayyaz Ahmed – a watchman employed by the agency, Junaid Ahmed, and a private agent identified as Muhammad Umar Shah. The officials are alleged to have helped Afghan residents obtain counterfeit National Identity Cards and other paperwork, a claim the agency says is being investigated as a possible security threat.

“We have seized a number of important records and other evidence that point to a network operating to facilitate illegal documentation,” the FIA representative said, adding that the probe could unearth further facilitators. The statement stopped short of naming any terror‑linked groups, merely noting that “initial evidence” hints at connections to extremist elements.

The news sparked immediate reactions. A family member of Deputy Assistant Director Fayyaz Ahmed filed a petition on Thursday seeking his release, arguing that he had gone missing before the arrest was disclosed. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) meanwhile urged the Sindh government to locate the missing NADRA official, underscoring worries about due‑process and the treatment of detainees.

This latest bust follows a series of similar operations earlier in the year. In June 2026 the FIA arrested three NADRA staff in Chakwal for issuing a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) to an Afghan prisoner. And in April 2026, another NADRA official was detained in Karachi on comparable charges. The pattern suggests a growing focus on curbing document fraud, especially as Pakistan wrestles with the long‑standing presence of Afghan refugees, many of whom arrived during the Soviet‑Afghan war and the more recent upheavals after the Taliban’s 2021 resurgence.

Pakistan’s government has been under pressure to tighten immigration controls. In June 2026, authorities ordered a swift crackdown on Afghan nationals residing illegally, accelerating repatriation drives and heightening scrutiny of identity paperwork. Critics argue that such measures risk entangling ordinary migrants in a web of suspicion, while security agencies maintain that fraudulent documents can be a gateway for extremist infiltration.

For now, the four suspects remain in FIA custody awaiting further legal steps. Their families, civil‑society groups, and human‑rights monitors will be watching closely to see whether due process is observed, while the broader debate over Afghan refugees’ legal status in Pakistan continues to simmer.