KARACHI: A judicial magistrate has granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) four-day physical remand of Pakistan Awam Raj Tehreek chief Iqrar ul Hassan.
Iqrar, who was allegedly picked up from his residence in Lahore in the early hours of Monday, has been arrested and booked by the NCCIA for “intentionally disseminating false, fabricated, anti-state and defamatory content with the object of instigating the general public against the state, its institutions and its functionaries”, according to The News.
The NCCIA officer investigating the case produced Iqrar before the judicial magistrate (East) on Tuesday and requested his 14-day physical remand for completion of investigation.
He said that the anchorperson was arrested in the present case on October 12 after being informed of the grounds of his arrest. His custody is required for recovery of the mobile phones, laptop(s), and other digital devices, SIMs and media storage used by him for creation, editing, uploading and posting of the impugned content, the investigating officer added.
The IO said that he was also required to establish the exclusive control and operation of the X, Instagram, and Facebook accounts used by the suspect, including email addresses, mobile numbers and recovery details linked therewith and confronting him with the account information to be obtained from the service providers through proper channel.
The IO said that the identity and role of any other person(s), including content producers, editors, social media handlers or facilitators, who assisted the suspect in producing, editing, or disseminating the impugned content, would be ascertained and arrested if found involved.
He said that he would also probe the monetisation, revenue or any other financial benefit derived from the accounts and any financial transactions with the dissemination of the impugned content.
The magistrate handed over Iqrar’s custody to the NCCIA on four-day physical remand with a direction to the IO to produce him on completion of his remand on October 17. To a query, Iqrar did not complain of any maltreatment at the hands of NCCIA officials.
Meanwhile, the magistrate allowed an application filed on behalf of Iqrar, seeking permission to allow his meeting with legal team in NCCIA custody for purpose of obtaining his signature on power of attorney (vakalatnama). However, the court instructed that plea for his meeting with family members during physical custody be filed before the magistrate concerned for an appropriate order.
According to the investigating officer, the NCCIA Karachi launched an inquiry upon receipt of a source report on October 10 from a credible source to the effect that Iqrar through his personal social media accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook was “intentionally disseminating false, fabricated, anti-state and defamatory content with the object of instigating the general public against the state, its institutions and its functionaries”.
It said that the anchorperson’s posts contained “false and fabricated content falsely portraying the state, its institutions, and officials, depicting lawful measures as controversial, and wrongly glorifying convicted individuals to incite public dissent against the state and authorities”.
“This content threatened the Federation’s integrity, unity, and public order,” he added. An FIR has been registered under sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyber terrorism), 20 (offences against dignity of a natural person), 24 (cyber stalking), and 26-A (Punishment for false and fake information) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.
