The suspect was detained and temporarily arrested

A local magistrate’s court granted a three-day remand to a suspect arrested by the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for allegedly running a social media campaign against Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and the President of the United Arab Emirates.

Suspect Bilal Malik was arrested by the FIA ​​Cybercrime Cell in Lahore following allegations of launching an online smear campaign against the Punjab CM and other prominent personalities.

During the court hearing, the FIA ​​informed the magistrate that further investigation was necessary to determine the extent of the accused’s activities.

The FIA ​​also revealed that a wider investigation is underway against the suspect in connection with the social media campaign, which also includes other people linked to similar campaigns.

Read also: FIA launches investigation into AI-generated videos by Maryam Nawaz, President of the United Arab Emirates

On the other hand, FIA Faisalabad has also registered a case for campaigning against the Punjab Chief Minister on social media. A case was registered against accused Shahzad based on a complaint filed by Muhammad Shahid.

A joint investigation team has been formed under the chairmanship of FIA’s additional director cybercrime, which includes deputy directors of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Lahore. The team is tasked with identifying and arresting other suspects involved in running defamatory campaigns on social media platforms.

Sarfaraz Chaudhry, Additional Director, stated, “Raids are underway to arrest all those involved in this coordinated campaign. The accused linked to Faisalabad will also be arrested soon.”