LAHORE: A Canadian national pursuing doctoral research who had “gone missing” last week here, was produced by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) officials on Monday before a duty magistrate who sent him to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

According to the NCCIA, Hamza Ahmad Khan was arrested for allegedly uploading posts against the state institutions and functionaries on social media platforms X and Instagram.

On Sunday, police had registered a case of alleged kidnapping of the Canadian researcher on the complaint of his friend.

According to the first information report (FIR) registered at the Defence-A police station, Hamza went missing in the early hours of Feb 19 after leaving his residence in DHA Phase-X.

Faces charges of maligning state institution, functionaries on social media, sent on 14-day judicial remand

Lahore police had claimed that Hamza’s whereabouts were not known to them. 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 they appear to be designed to incite public unrest, spread animosity, and undermine social order,” the FIR says, adding 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.

According to the FIR, 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 says that the suspect was posting derogatory content to “defame and malign the 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 says.

A member of Hamza’s family said: “We had filed an FIR since he was abducted on Feb 19 and our only focus right now is to get Hamza safely back.”

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026