Cr.Bail 2635/2025 (S.B.) Sindh High Court, Karachi
Sindh High Court · 2026 · Before Tasneem Sultana
applicant Tariq Hussain seeks post-arrest bail in FIR No. 283/2025 registered at FIA AHTC Karachi under Sections 3, 4 and 6 of the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018 (as amended 2025), read with Sections 420, 468 and 471 PPC. Having been rejected his earlier bail application by learned trial Court vide order dated 23.9.2025.
2. Brief facts of the prosecution case are that on 28.08.2025 FIA AHTC Karachi received a written complaint of Eduardo Lopez, Special Agent, U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, Consulate General of the USA at Karachi, forwarded by the Director FIA Karachi Zone. The complainant conveyed that the Overseas Criminal Investigations Unit (OCIU) Karachi was examining a matter in which a group of twenty visa applicants had appeared at the U.S. Consulate for B1/B2 visa interviews and had submitted documents which, upon scrutiny, were suspected to be forged or fabricated. These included employment letters, salary slips, invitation letters and other supporting papers which the applicants claimed to have obtained through certain consultancy channels. OCIU Karachi further reported that some of the applicants stated that they had made payments for arranging these papers. The U.S. authorities reported that a group of twenty visa applicants had appeared at the Consulate claiming to be “Brand Ambassadors’’ and “Student Coordinators’’ for Alpha Aviation Group, Miami, U.S.A., and had submitted forged or fabricated documents including counterfeit employment letters, salary slips, invitation letters and mis-declared facts in online visa applications. Preliminary interviews conducted by OCIU Karachi indicated that several applicants had obtained these documents through persons [Tariq Hussain v. The State] linked with Huzaifa Sheikh Consultants & Travel Services and other associated entities, and that amounts ranging from PKR 200,000 to PKR 500,000 had allegedly been paid in advance for arranging such documentation and facilitating purported aviation-training opportunities abroad. Upon receipt of this information, a raiding team of FIA AHTC Karachi proceeded to the vicinity of the U.S. Consulate at Mai Kolachi Road, where the group of intending migrants was found and taken into custody for examination. During preliminary inquiry, some applicants disclosed that forged documents had been arranged for them shortly before their visa interviews and that coordination had occurred through specific phone numbers and email addresses, including Fasst.G@mail.com. Based on these disclosures, the FIR was registered alleging that the present applicant Tariq Hussain, described as operating First & FASST Visa Consultant, Islamabad, along with co- accused Sohail Badar, CEO of Sheikh Huzaifa Enterprises, had acted as migrant smugglers by arranging fabricated documentation and facilitating attempts to obtain B1/B2 visas through misrepresentation, thereby attracting offences under Sections 3, 4 and 6 of the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018 (as amended 2025).
3. Learned counsel for the applicant contended that the applicant Tariq Hussain has no nexus with the forged documentation; that none of the twenty visa applicants attributed to him regarding the prep…
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