LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Monday indicted YouTuber Saadur Rehman, alias Ducky Bhai, his wife Aroob Jatoi, and others over the alleged promotion of gambling apps on social media.

All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and decided to contest the trial. Magistrate Naeem Wattoo ordered the prosecution to present its witnesses at the next hearing.

Further proceedings will be held on Feb 23.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) had registered the cases of several YouTubers and Tiktokers on charges of promoting gambling apps on their social media accounts.

The agency had arrested Rehman in August of last year. The Lahore High Court (LHC) had released him on bail on Nov 24.

The case is related to an inquiry dated June 13, 2025, and registered on the “receipt of information from reliable source(s)” that some YouTubers and social media influencers were promoting gambling and betting applications to the general public via their social media accounts for their own monetary benefits.

It was registered under sections 13 (Electronic forgery), 14 (Electronic fraud), 25 (Spamming) and 26 (Spoofing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 read with sections 294 B (Offering prize in connection with trade) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducting delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In December, Rehman had uploaded a nearly hour-long video to his YouTube channel in which he made allegations of physical and verbal abuse while in NCCIA custody.

In October, six NCCIA officials were given a three-day physical remand for allegedly misusing their authority, extorting money and taking bribes, after a case was registered against them on the complaint of Aroob Jatoi.

Meanwhile, in September, NCCIA Lahore Additional Director Sarfraz Chaudhry was removed from his post, reportedly over different controversies, including allegedly beating Rehman.