RAWALPINDI (Special Reporter)
Rawalpindi Police have registered a case against a gang accused of impersonating senior ISI and Pakistan Army officers to extort large sums of money from staff at a Chinese-run call centre. Despite more than a week passing since the FIR was lodged, the police have so far failed to apprehend the suspects.
The case was registered on the complaint of Areeba Rubab, a resident of Taxila, who told police that the accused received a total of Rs 8 million from employees of the Chinese call centre through threats and intimidation. According to Areeba, she and her husband, Chinese national Gao Kizan, worked at a call centre in Bahria Town Phase 8 when the extortion began.
She reported that a man named Fawad Ahmed first visited the call centre with several accomplices, claiming to represent powerful institutions, and forcibly collected Rs 2 million. Later, he returned and said he would introduce them to his “superior,” allegedly a brigadier in the Pakistan Army and head of an intelligence agency.
Areeba stated that on April 25, 2025, she and other staff followed Fawad’s instructions and arrived at Chaklala Garrison, where he received them and took them to an office. There, Ali Awais Jan introduced himself as “Brigadier Ali Awais Jan, Intelligence Agency,” while another man claimed to be “Colonel Zaigham Abbas.” These fake officers then demanded another Rs 6 million, which the victims were compelled to transfer to a specified bank account.
After receiving the money, the suspects switched off their mobile phones and disappeared. Areeba told police that the gang exploited the name of state institutions to threaten, intimidate and extort a total of Rs 8 million—constituting a serious criminal offence. She urged police to recover the extorted money and arrest the suspects immediately.
Police have begun the investigation, conducting raids based on mobile data, bank transactions, and CCTV footage; however, the accused remain untraced.
Sources also revealed that call centre mafias operating across Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been exploiting employees by paying low salaries, deducting more than Rs 10,000 for even a single day’s leave, and collectively siphoning off millions of rupees through illegal practices.