4000 persons on watch list of FIA
By Asim Hussain

ISLAMABAD—As many as 4000 persons are on the watch list of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) according to the data of travelers maintained under Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES). According to the FIA sources, more than 30 million travelers record have been stored so far into the PISCES and there have been about 4000 hit cases against different categories of watch list under this project.
The purpose of PISCES is to monitor the exit and entry of travelers and disembarkation, they maintained. This system works against pre-defined watch list of suspects that includes ECL, stolen passport and Black Listed for Visa, Lost/missing passports and black listed for Passport and Interpol categories. “ PISCES assists in the global efforts to combat crime and terrorism using state of the art technology,” they added. There are 17 operational sites of PISCES in Pakistan which included Karachi airport, Lahore airport, Islamabad airport, Peshawar airport, Quetta airport, Multan airport, Faisalabad airport, Wagha land route, Chaman land route, Torkham land route, Wagha Railway station, Karachi sea port, Khokarapar railway station, Ghassbandar sea port, Port Bin Qasim, Taftan land route and Sust land route.
The system is also being planned for Gwadar airport, Pasni airport, Turbat ai port and Gwadar sea port, the sources maintained. PISCES has contributed a lot in identifying the high value suspects especially involved in Terrorism and Human Trafficking.
Automated functionality of immigration using PISCES has enabled the streaming of number of manual procedures like watch list, ECL etc. The sources said the federal government may by order, prohibit any person or class of persons from proceedings from Pakistan to a destination outside Pakistan, notwithstanding the fact that such person is in possession of valid travel documents.