LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency’s (NCCIA) Lahore circle claimed to have busted a gang allegedly involved in illegal acquisition, possession, and commercial sale of sensitive telecommunications subscribers’ data, arresting three suspects.

According to the NCCIA, the gang was unlawfully accessing and trading confidential information, including Call Detail Records (CDRs), SIM ownership details, subscriber registration records, family registration data, location information, and other protected records.

The during the operation, ordered by NCCIA Punjab Director Muhammad Ali Waseem, following a complaint lodged by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), three suspects -- Saghar, Ishfaq and Malik Sadam – were arrested from Lahore.

They have been booked under sections 3, 6, 13, 14, 16, and 17 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016 (Amended 2025), read with sections 419, 420, 468, and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Some 14 mobile phones, one laptop, one tablet, 38 SIM cards, 10 internet devices, nine Biometric Verification System (BVS) devices, seven fingerprint scanners, three bluetooth fingerprint scanners, three card readers, 11 memory cards, nine USB storage devices, eight hard disks and RAM modules, and 60 hard copies of fingerprint records have been recovered from the suspects.

All recovered digital evidence has been sent for forensic examination.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2026