LAHORE: The cybercrime wing of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday picked up a journalist for reporting a crime story, which it termed “sensitive and offensive”.

Fraz Nizam, an anchorperson for the web portal Urdu Point, was taken into custody for doing a report that focused on the relationship between two siblings, which led to a murder, over a year ago.

The FIA claims to have acted on a petition of public interest filed by a lawyer over a month ago and booked Mr Nizam for the video uploaded by Urdu Point.

In his reply to FIA, Mr Nizam defended the report. “It involved a standard interview and reporting, conducted in strict adherence to the ethical standards and guidelines that govern our profession,” he said.

FIA investigator Rai Shakeel refused to respond to Dawn’s queries in this regard. They also did not disclose the name of the petitioner.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2024