LAHORE: Over 70 people, mostly from the Punjab province, have been arrested after the Pakistani authorities launched a countrywide operation against those possessing "illegal" Direct-to-Home satellite devices allegedly smuggled from India in the local market, an official said Tuesday.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) along with Customs and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) launched the crackdown last Saturday on those having 'illegal' Indian Direct-to-Home (DTH) receivers and arrested over 75 people mostly from the Punjab province.
"During the last four days, the FIA arrested more than 50 suspects in Punjab alone and recovered illegal devices from them," FIA Punjab spokesperson Altaf Gohar Wattoo told PTI.
He said the remaining suspects have been arrested from other provinces. Wattoo said 7,387 illegal equipment including DTH receivers have been recovered from the arrested suspects.
He said a huge amount of money was being laundered to India in connection with the DTH business.
"We will continue the crackdown till complete elimination of this illegal business in the country," the official said.
Cases have been registered against the business owners and other suspects under the PEMRA Ordinance, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, Customs Act and the relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had imposed a ban on the transmission of Indian content on local television channels, setting aside an earlier verdict by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar announced the verdict on the petition of the United Producers Association.
"They (Indians) are trying to obstruct the construction of our dam and we cannot even ban their channels?" the CJP said.
The decision is largely seen as a 'tit-for-tat' move after similar actions were taken by some channels and the entertainment industry in India against Pakistani content and artists.