Rawalpindi-The self-professed spiritual leader, Pir Chaudhry Sohaib Ali along with his wife have been booked by Cyber Crime Wing of Federal Investigation Agency for swindling cash and gold from a family and filming a woman of the family nude to bar them from demanding back the looted stuff, official sources informed The Nation on Wednesday.

Sources said that FIA only came into action after one of its officers approached the family while impersonating himself as PA to the DG and demanded Rs15 million bribes.

The First Information Report was registered with FIA Cyber Crime Circle Rawalpindi Zone on complaint of Mahnoor Waqar, a university student, sources said.

Later, Director General FIA Bashir Memon sacked FIA officer Abdullah Khan Chandio for demanding Rs15 million bribe from victim family while impersonating himself as Personal Assistant to the agency chief in order to get recover the money and gold from fake spiritual leader, they said. An inquiry has also been initiated against the official, sources said.

However, the FIA investigators have not made any arrest so far.

According to sources, Mahnoor Waqar, resident of Abid Majid Road, lodged a complaint with DG FIA in 2017 stating that a fake Pir Chaudhry Sohaib Ali and his wife Rabia alias Maryam developed relations with her father Khawaja Waqar and mother through her uncle Khawaja Imran. “The couple used to visit my house often during which Sohaib lured my father to sale out all of property and give him the amount for investing in business,” she said.

She said that her parents acted upon advice of the Pir and handed him over Rs40.25 million for property business. She said that Pir paid profit to her family to win their trust. She said that Rabia often borrowed jewellery from her mother to wear it in functions.

She said that Pir Sohaib later told her family that he was cousin of then federal minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and asked her mother and aunt to borrow him antique gold jewellery as wife of Chaudhry Nisar got stunned after seeing Rabia wearing this jewellery and asked him to give her this jewellery to wear in functions.

“Sohaib was given gold ornaments weighing 2 kilograms by my family,” she said. She said that her family demanded back gold and cash from Sohaib after he stopped paying profit of lands. Mahnoor alleged Rabia called her and requested to her flat to take her daughter to home as she had to go somewhere.

“As I reached the flat, Sohaib overwhelmed me and stripped me naked. Later he clicked my objectionable pictures in his mobile phone and threatened me of dire consequences,” she said.

The complainant said that Sohaib sent her obscene pictures threatening her to stop her parents from demanding money and gold back or else he would leak all of her pictures on social media.

Mahnoor asked the DG to lodge case against the accused and to provide her with justice.

DG referred the mater to Deputy Director Cyber Crime Rawalpindi Zone and directed to inquire the matter, sources said. However, FIA investigators pushed up the matter under the carpet due to alleged pressure of the than federal minister on interior.

The victim family then approached DG Human Rights Cell of Supreme Court for justice. DG HRC ordered the DG FIA to probe the allegations and submit a report, sources said, adding that once again the FIA conducted erroneous interrogation to save skin of culprits, sources mentioned.

The story took a turn when FIA Officer Abdullah Khan Chandio along with a so-called journalist visited house of the family and demanded Rs15 million bribes while impersonating himself as PA to the DG FIA Bashir Memon for capturing fake Pir and recovering looted stuff.

The victim women recorded phone calls of the FIA official and the fake journo and later on shared the call tapes with DG FIA, who took stern action of the incident. The DG ordered Additional Director Asmat Ullah Junejo and DD Cyber Crime Imran Haider to grill all the accused and to take departmental action against them.

AD and DD summoned both parties; recorded their statements and declared Abdullah Khan Chandio as guilty besides recommending departmental action against him. In light of inquiry report, DG sacked Abdullah Khan Chandio and ordered the DD FIA Cyber Crime to register Case against fake Pir and his wife, they said.

Following instructions of DG, FIA Cyber Crime Circle filed Case and begun investigation, sources said.

On the other hand, Ayaz Mehar, Inspector Cyber Crime Circle, summoned the victim girl and her family members and recorded their statements to submit in court.

DD Cyber Crime Circle Imran Haider, during chat with The Nation, confirmed the development. He said that FIA would provide the victim family with justice.

On the other hand, the accused Pir Sohaib and his wife Rabia obtained pre arrest bails from a court of law till March 18, 2019.