FIA arrests six retailers in Kot Addu for extorting BISP beneficiaries

MULTAN: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided a Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) office in Kot Addu on Monday and arrested six retailers accused of illegally extorting money from beneficiary women, according to the FIR.

The retailers allegedly charged Rs1,500 from each beneficiary for mobile SIMs that were supposed to be provided free of cost, the FIR stated. SIM cards, biometric devices, mobile phones, and identity cards were seized from the suspects during the raid. 

A case has been registered against them in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The arrests follow a similar operation last week in Hyderabad, where the FIA detained three alleged BISP agents — Rashid Ali, Furqan, and Ahmed Khan — during a raid at M/S JJ Communications, on suspicion of defrauding beneficiaries. 

Two of the suspects are government employees, and all three have been booked in a First Information Report.

The crackdown comes amid renewed scrutiny of irregularities in BISP payments. On July 22, a subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Moin Amir Pirzada, examined alleged irregularities involving more than Rs19 billion in payments made between FY2010-11 and FY2022-23.

Auditors told the committee that funds had been withdrawn outside beneficiaries' registered districts and provinces, in violation of BISP rules. Payments linked to beneficiaries from 39 districts were reportedly processed through a single mobile shop franchise in Multan. More than half of 92 sampled beneficiaries could not be traced, while payments had also been made to 21 deceased individuals.

FIA officials requested two weeks to coordinate with BISP and complete their inquiry, prompting the committee chair to question the lack of progress over the previous eight months.

The committee also reviewed cases involving government employees, pensioners, and their spouses who allegedly received BISP payments. Pirzada questioned what action had been taken against senior officials, noting that the Rs4,000 monthly stipend was meant for the poorest citizens. The BISP additional secretary said most employees linked to the cases held lower grades and that inquiries had been conducted, though no employee had been dismissed.

PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla criticised BISP's reliance on deputation staff, saying it had weakened institutional oversight. The subcommittee deferred the matter until its next meeting.