Wedding hall staff take FBR officials hostage during tax raid
1. Officials were eventually freed after several hours of negotiations
KARACHI: A routine tax raid in the port city turned tense when Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials were taken hostage by staff at a wedding hall on Dalmia Road.
According to Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Hamza, the wedding hall was suspected of under-reporting its earnings, prompting the FBR to launch an inspection. During the investigation, the FBR team was unexpectedly detained by the hall’s employees.
Upon arriving, FBR officials reported that they were met with strong resistance from the staff, who held them against their will.
Hamza, alerted to the situation, quickly arrived at the scene to engage in negotiations. After initial talks, some members of the FBR team were released, although tensions remained high.
Local police were called to the scene, but the staff reportedly paid little attention to their presence.
After several hours of negotiations, all FBR officials were finally freed.
In an interview with Geo News, Assistant Commissioner Hamza described the incident as a “departmental misunderstanding” and confirmed that the hall staff had been called to the FBR office the following day for further discussions.
