MUZAFFARGARH: A couple of weeks ago, several YouTube channels offering black magic to win over the power of witchcraft were doing a roaring business in terms of subscriptions, views, reviews and paid subscriptions for the complete course of the magic world.

One such channel attracted more than 200,000 subscribers by offering simple tricks to learn about the power to see the deposits of gold.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA’s) crime wing of Multan has managed to block over a dozen of such channels and arrested the group running them. The gang, based in Jatoi area of Muzaffargarh, claimed to be expert in practicing black magic with owl blood and meat.

FIA Assistant Director Adnan Khan said he deployed ASI Rai Muhammad Tanveer to trace the whereabouts of the gang after coming to know about the roaring business of the black magic world. The FIA learned the gang operated from their studios at Mehrab Hotel in Jatoi. Those running the channels include Mehr Ghulam Mustafa, Muhammad Shahbaz, Jahangir Akhtar, Amir Raza, Irfan Shah and Muhammad Shah.

FIA says channels extorted money from the gullible

The FIA said the suspects extorted millions from the people by offering them complete courses of black magic on YouTube channels and other social media platforms. Interested people were told to pay a certain amount of money for access to ‘premium videos’ and for buying ‘wands’ ‘owl blood’ and ‘owl meat’ to perform witchcraft. The gang also offered their services to solve people’s problems through these spiritual channels.

Their usual clients included people desirous of having children and those facing problems in their love-marriage pursuits.

The suspects also blackmailed several of their women clients by making their videos and pictures and minted money from time to time.

Locals also noticed their activities when suspects started living a luxurious life and started buying agricultural land, plots and expensive vehicles.

The FIA registered a case against the suspects under sections 419, 420, 468, and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code, sections 3, 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act and 4, 17 and 21 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

According to the FIA report, the gang used techniques to receive cash from the clients.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2022