Pakistan arrests 'key smuggler' linked to Greece boat capsize

• Police say they are fully cooperating with FIA in investigations.
• FIA forms teams Lahore, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Rawalpindi.
• Hundreds of migrants drown in Mediterranean off Peloponnese.

LAHORE: The "key smuggler" involved in the unfortunate incident of a boat capsizing off the Greek coast has been arrested, the police said Tuesday, as families of the deceased seek justice from authorities.

"Prime suspect in Greek shipwreck and human smuggling arrested in Vehari police operation," Punjab Inspector General Usman Anwar said in a statement released from the Punjab Police's account on Twitter.

As per the details shared by the police, the suspect was arrested after 24-hour long action by Vehari police.

It said that the provincial police department was fully cooperating with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to arrest more suspects and their investigations.

Expanding the scope of its investigation into the Greece shipwreck incident, the FIA has formed teams in major cities, including Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, to bring the human traffickers to justice.

FIA DG, while chairing a meeting, directed officials to complete the investigations against the human traffickers in connection with the Greece shipwreck at the earliest.

The meeting was told that three inquiries and six FIRs had been lodged against more than 20 human traffickers, so far, while five human smugglers had also been arrested from Gujrat, Gujranwala and Lahore.

An ill-fated fishing trawler loaded with hundreds of migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Peloponnese last week.

Authorities in Europe still have no clear idea how many people were aboard the boat when it sank — estimates range from 400 to over 700 — but likely hundreds came from Pakistan, and many from Azad Jammu Kashmir. As per the foreign media reports, 80 people have died and hundreds were still missing.

The United Nations Human Rights office said in a statement on Sunday that at least 500 people were still missing and that dozens of people were known to have perished. 

A good number of women and children were among the missing persons in the "horrific trage­dy". The ferry boat was carrying up to 750 people that went down 50 nautical miles off Pylos in southern Greece, it further said.

Pakistani survivors on the ill-fated boat that capsised off the Greece coast have blamed Greek coastguards for the incident, saying the ship — carrying hundreds of people — was deliberately sunk and no rescue was provided.