LAHORE: A three-member committee has widened the scope of investigation a day after the customs authorities seized eye-contact lens worth Rs 20 million at the Lahore airport.
According to a sources, Lahore Airport Station Manager Tariq Majeed and three other officials were being grilled for facilitating a female passenger who attempted to smuggle the lens from London to Lahore on PIA flight PK-758.
Sources said that the Customs Intelligence wing seized the smuggled lens when the woman tried to skip security checking at the airport in connivance with PIA officials. It was also learnt that three officials were providing protocol to the woman, identified as Uzma, at the behest of the station manager. The smuggler is said to be a close relative of Tariq Majeed.
During initial interrogation, PIA officials told the customs authorities that they were providing protocol to the woman on the “verbal orders” of the station manager. The woman was released later. However, Customs officials seized lens worth Rs 20 million from her possession.
An official claimed that a three-member team consisting of senior PIA officials reached Lahore from Karachi on Monday to investigate the matter. When contacted, a PIA spokesman refused to comment on this issue.
