A Karachi court has remanded television anchorperson and Awam Raj Tehreek chief Iqrarul Hassan to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for four days in a case concerning alleged anti-state and defamatory content shared on social media.
According to the first information report (FIR), registered on October 10, the agency accused Iqrar of disseminating allegedly false, fabricated and defamatory material through his accounts on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and X. Investigators alleged that the content was intended to incite the public against the state, its institutions and government officials.
The case invokes provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, including Sections 9, 10, 20, 24 and 26-A, which address offences including glorification of an offence, cyberterrorism, offences against the dignity of a person, cyberstalking and the dissemination of false or fake information.
Iqrar was reportedly taken into custody from his residence in Lahore's Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in the early hours of Monday, October 12, before being transferred to Karachi. His family raised concerns over the circumstances surrounding his detention. In a video statement, his wife, Farah Iqrar, alleged that men in plain clothes entered their residence around 3am after breaking the main gate and took her husband away. She further alleged that the individuals manhandled her and confiscated mobile phones and a laptop during the operation.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had earlier clarified that the provincial police had not arrested Hassan, saying the matter was under investigation. The allegations against him have yet to be established through judicial proceedings.
Meanwhile, Iqrar's defence counsel, Barrister Mian Ali Ashfaq, challenged the magistrate's remand order before a district and sessions court in Karachi on Wednesday. The court issued a notice to the NCCIA and scheduled the matter for Thursday, October 15.