News anchor Rehan Tariq. Photo: File
A Lahore magistrate’s court on Wednesday granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) six days of physical custody to podcaster Rehan Tariq, who was arrested in a case registered under the blasphemy and cybercrime laws.
Judicial Magistrate Naeem Wattoo handed over the suspect to the investigative team for six days and directed the agency to produce him before the court again at the expiry of the remand. The court also requested a status report at the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, the case was registered on the complaint of Deputy Director of Cyber Crime, Rizwan Sabir, under various provisions including Section 295-A (offending religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
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The investigation team informed the judge that Tariq had been taken into custody by officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and NCCIA when he arrived at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport last night from the UK.
It said his name had already been put on the no-fly list, which is why he was stopped at the airport.
The investigators also stated that written complaints had been received from religious groups about allegedly controversial podcast content, including an interview with religious scholar Jawad Naqvi.
They requested one week of physical custody, arguing that additional time was needed to investigate the case, examine Tariq’s digital accounts, seize his cell phone, and recover the original podcast recordings and related digital data.
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After hearing the prosecution’s case, the court approved six days of physical custody instead of the seven days requested by investigators.
Before Tariq was produced in the court under tight security, Tariq and a few of his supporters raised slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad” as he stepped out of the police vehicle at the district courts.
