Two Pakistan Embassy Employees caught stealing chocolate treats and hats in South Korea

Two diplomats from the Pakistan Embassy in South Korea were caught shoplifting at a store in Seoul, said the police on Saturday. Yongsan Police Station said the two were caught stealing items worth 11,000 won (USD 10) and 1,900 won (USD 1.70), respectively, at the same store in Itaewon, Yongsan District, on different dates, reported The Korea Times. One allegedly stole chocolate treats worth 1,900 won (USD 1.70), on January 10, and the other a hat worth 11,000 won (USD 10), on February 23.

Pak Embassy employees caught shoplifting in South Korea

After the hat was stolen, an employee at the store filed a police report shortly afterwards, and the law enforcement authorities identified the suspect through CCTV footage as a 35-year-old diplomat of the Pakistan Embassy, reported The Korea Times. Following an investigation, officers closed the case without booking the suspect because of diplomatic immunity. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomats and their families may avoid arrest, detention, or indictment under certain laws of their host country. 

Pakistani diplomats abroad continue to embarrass Islamabad

This is not the first time when diplomats of Pakistan have embarrassed their country by being accused of such crimes. In 2018, a Pakistani diplomat was caught stealing the wallet of his Kuwaiti counterpart. Due to the worsening image of the Pakistani diplomats, the United States government had imposed travel restrictions banning their movement beyond a 25-miles radius around Washington DC without approval between May 2018 and May 2019.

Even Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Munir Akram has been accused of domestic violence by his live-in partner. He was excused due to diplomatic immunity. In another incident, an Assistant Visa officer at Pakistan high commission, Bangladesh, Mohamed Mazhar Khan was arrested after his role in a syndicate was busted. The syndicate used to smuggle Fake Indian Currency Notes through Assam and West Bengal border.

During the investigation, the documents recovered from his possession exposed his links with members of the terrorist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. In a similar incident, another Pakistan diplomat Farina Arshad who was Second Secretary at the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh was charged after a militant of jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) Idris Sheikh admitted her links with the militant organization.

(Image: PTI)