Police registered a criminal case and arrested a suspect after an obscene video was played on digital advertising screens in Karachi’s Defense Housing Authority (DHA) on Thursday.
South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Asad Raza while speaking to Express Pakinomistsaid that during the investigation, the police arrested a company employee who stated that “another video already stored on his mobile phone was mistakenly played on the SMD screens”.
“The suspect further told the investigators that the actual videos sent by the company for promotional purposes were stored on his mobile phone,” Raza said, adding that the interrogation of the arrested suspect was continuing.
The case was registered at Gizri police station under Section 292 (sale of obscene books) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the company’s legal counsel, Shakir Ali.
The complaint stated that an inappropriate video was broadcast on a digital screen installed on a pole near the Ayesha Manzil signal on Khayaban-e-Ittehad.
According to the first information report, the company’s director of operations informed Ali by phone at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday that an obscene video was playing on the screen. The complainant said that he went into the place himself and had the screen turned off.
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The complaint added that the company’s management suspected that one or more employees had gained unauthorized access to the system and played the video with the intent to defame the company.
Earlier, residents staged protests after the obscene video appeared on the screens. Authorities said that as a precautionary measure, digital screens installed on other major roads in DHA, as well as on Shahrah-e-Faisal and Karsaz Road, were temporarily shut down.
