‘Pakistani lawyer’s identity forged for fake passport to travel to India’

ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee was told on Tuesday that a forger used a lawyer’s identity and passport to travel to India, in a case involving document fraud through the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

Senator Affanallah said the incident involved a consultant at the Attorney General’s Office whose passport was falsified in 2023. “The affected lawyer is here, you can ask him,” he told the Standing Committee on Interior.

The lawyer told the committee that his identity and passport had been used by another individual to enter India, forcing him and his parents to prove their Pakistani citizenship to NADRA.

The Director General of Passports said that NADRA had shared several cases of similar identity fraud and that a new dashboard system had been created to prevent forged travel documents.

Senator Palwasha Khan asked how the identity data was stolen. The DG said citizens often share passport and ID information over WhatsApp, from where leaks can occur.

Senator Talha Mahmood raised concerns that NADRA had previously issued identity cards to Afghan nationals and alleged terrorists.

The DG said that the case was from 2023 but that NADRA and the passport office have since implemented stricter controls.

Affanallah warned that data from NADRA, banks, and the Federal Board of Revenue is reportedly available on the dark web, with individual records allegedly sold for Rs500, adding that internal collusion would be required for such large-scale data theft.

The DG of Passports assured the committee that it is now impossible to produce a fake passport.

The affected lawyer said he holds dual nationality and normally uses a British passport for travel, adding that he had been waiting a year to meet the DG of Passports regarding the matter.

Federal Minister Talal Chaudhry said that the government is establishing a cybersecurity authority and proposed that Affanallah can be briefed on NADRA-related security measures.