- Advertisement -
ISLAMABAD, Jan 13 (APP):Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Tuesday told the National Assembly that there was “zero tolerance” for financial fraud and criminal misconduct, assuring the House that all cases highlighted by lawmakers were being investigated and acted upon.
Responding to a point of order raised by Member National Assembly Sher Afzal Marwat, he said the incident reported by the member in which money was allegedly taken from citizens had led to the arrest and charging of the police officials involved.
He said such complaints were taken very seriously and that there was zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour within the police.
Referring to another case mentioned by MNA, a Rs 100 million incident, Talal Chaudhry said it had not yet been established that any police official was involved.
He informed the House that a multi-agency investigation was under way and assured members that, should any evidence of involvement by officials surface, strict action would be taken in line with the zero-tolerance policy.
He added that lawmaker had earlier also pointed out issues related to the National Cyber Crime Investigation (NCCI) wing, and that a number of complaints and reports — including a high-profile case involving a YouTuber — had led to action against senior NCCI officers. Some of these officers, he said, had been placed under suspension, were under investigation and, in certain cases, arrested.
Responding to another point of order raised by MNA Naz Baloch, Talal Chaudhry said she had correctly identified the capacity challenges facing the newly created NCCI Authority, which had replaced the FIA’s cybercrime wing. He told the House that, at present, only around 523 personnel were available across Pakistan in the authority, whereas complaints of financial fraud, online harassment and other cyber offences were increasing rapidly.
He said the government was according full attention to strengthening the NCCI Authority, with experienced officers being posted, new recruitments initiated and additional staff being sourced from other departments. He noted that cybercrime investigation was a highly technical field and required trained, technically sound personnel, so recruitment, training and deployment necessarily took time. However, he expressed confidence that the authority’s capacity and outreach would visibly improve in the coming days.
The minister rejected the impression that the situation was “lawless” or unregulated, saying it was not a free-for-all and that action was taken wherever wrongdoing was identified.
He said illegal call centres operating across the country were also being targeted, pointing out that many had been set up in remote areas where there was no legitimate basis for such facilities to exist. These centres, he added, were often linked to financial fraud and scams involving multiple nationalities and were contributing to Pakistan’s negative image abroad.