FIA to fight terrorism, cyber crimes
LAHORE- The Federal Investigation Agency after losing its two important wings to the National Accountability Bureau is set to be given the responsibility of fighting terrorism and cyber crimes.
Proposal to establish new cells will be discussed at a meeting of a five-member committee of FIA, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Law, Finance and establishment division officials scheduled to be held this month in Islamabad.
The meeting besides working out the modalities of the merger of FIA’s economic crime and crime wings with the NAB will also analyze the procedure of establishing the new cells.
The federal cabinet, it may be mentioned, had announced the merger of FIA’s economic and crime wings with the NAB on Sept 20.
Sources said that the new project would see light only when a foreign agency injected heavy funding. The federal government had given a go-ahead signal to the FIA authorities concerned to establish an anti-terrorist cell over six months ago but it had failed to sanction funds.
Senior FIA officials said on January 3, 2003 that the United States was expected to provide funds for the project. They said the US had also provided funds in the launch of the Personal Identification Secure Evaluation System at various airports to check movement of suspected terrorists and illegal immigrants. A team of the US officials had also imparted training to the FIA officials.
Similarly, the FIA officials would be imparted training in fighting terrorism and cyber crimes by the US experts. The training would be given either in Pakistan or abroad, they said. The officials believed that the increase in manpower and scientific instruments for intelligence gathering was inevitable to initiate the project.
They said that there was a possibility that those FIA employees who would not be absorbed in the NAB be taken in the new cells. At present, except police, there is no special agency working to combat terrorism and cyber crimes in the country.
The police, however, had established an electronic crime unit a couple of months ago to check the cyber crimes. The unit had only three investigation officers in the Punjab who had so far registered over half-a-dozen cases. There had been no training what so ever for the IOs to deal with the cyber crimes.
When contacted, a senior police official said that the IOs had been given training in detecting a visa or credit card fraud by bank officials. However, he admitted that there was no other training was given to the IOs to deal with crimes like computer network breaking, industrial espionage, software piracy, e-mail bombing and password sniffer.
“There are no policeman on the information superhighway waiting to arrest potential offenders with a radar gun if someone looks suspicious,” the police official added.
The FIA officials claimed that the police could not combat the anti-terrorism activities and cyber crimes because it needed an effective network of human intelligence, trained officials and modern technology. They said the NAB had also hired the FIA officials when its own officials could not deal with the criminal cases.
The FIA, which came into existence in 1975, had some 20 ordinances and acts including the Immigration Ordinance 1979, the Passport Act 1974, the Custom Act 1969, the National Registration Act 1973, the Official Secret Act 1923, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, the Foreign Exchange Repatriation Act 1972, the Foreign Assets Declaration Act 1972, the Banking Company Ordinance 1962, the Foreigners Act 1944, the Explosive Substance Act 1908, the West Pakistan Arms Ordinance 1965, the High Treason Act 1973, the Prevention of Anti-national Activities Act 1947, the Import Export Act 1950, the Drugs Act 1976 and the Exit Control Act 1981.
The powers of the prohibition of the Corruption Act 1947 and the Banking Nationalization Act 1974 had been transferred to the NAB.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/4/2003
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