ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has asked the country’s civilian investigative and spy agencies to take action against those posting obnoxious messages on a social media website through his fake accounts.

The Senate chairman through a letter on Tuesday informed the heads of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Pakistan Telecommuni­cation Authority (PTA) that two fake accounts under his name were operational on the social media website Twitter, whereas he had no account on any social media website whatsoever.

“Last evening, it has been brought to my notice that a person or persons is/are operating at least two ‘Twitter’ accounts and sending obnoxious messages through them,” he wrote, asking them to hold an inquiry and bring the “culprits to book under the law”.

It is interesting to note that one of these two accounts has been operational since October 2014 and over 9,300 people, belonging to all walks of life, have been following him through this account. The other account was created by someone in January this year.

Another interesting aspect of the whole episode is that almost all the messages on the alleged fake website are positive, except the last one posted on Feb 18.

However, the account carries a picture of the National Assembly hall in the background instead of the Senate, indicating also that it is a fake account.

The ‘fake’ message, carrying pictures of Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid, Hafiz Saeed of the Jamaatud Dawa and Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi and Allama Aurangzeb Farooqui of the banned outfit Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), calls upon Pakistan Army to take action against these persons, if it wanted to see war against terrorism successful.

Earlier in January, a number of senior parliamentarians, including National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah, had complained that someone had created their fake accounts showing transactions with high amounts.

Later, the FIA arrested a former employee of a bank who had created these fake accounts in the name of politicians in order to get even with the bank management.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2017