LAHORE: A Canadian national pursuing doctoral research, who went missing last week, has turned up in the custody of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

The agency on Monday produced Hamza Ahmad Khan before a magistrate, who sent him to jail for 14 days on judicial remand.

On Sunday, police registered a case on kidnapping charges on the complaint of his friend. According to the first information report, Hamza went missing in the early hours of Feb 19 after leaving his residence in DHA Phase 10, according to the first information report (FIR) registered at the Defence-A police station.

On Monday, it emerged that Hamza was in NCCIA custody for allegedly making anti-state posts on social media platforms X and Instagram.

In the FIR registered against him by the NCCIA, the cybercrime agency said that during routine cyber patrols, accounts associated with Hamza were actively “disseminating misinformation and disinformation targeting the state institutions”.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered under sections 20 (offences against the dignity of a natural person), 24 (cyber stalking) and 26A (spoofing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.

“An initial analysis indicates that the content in question is being published intentionally and is publicly accessible. The nature of these posts is inflammatory and appears designed to incite public unrest, spread animosity, and undermine social order,” the FIR said.

It added that the propagation of such malicious content posed a “significant risk”, with the potential to cause severe reputational damage to the state of Pakistan, both domestically and internationally.

It added that during the course of inquiry, it was verified that Hamza was uploading “derogatory posts against the state functionaries and state institutions with the intention to harm the reputation of the state functionaries”.

It further added that the suspect was posting derogatory content to “defame and malign constitutional and political leadership of Pakistan, incite hatred and undermine the integrity of the state”.

“Such mischievous statements/posts render dire consequences nationally and internationally for the state of Pakistan,” the NCCIA said.