KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday handed over anchorperson Iqrar ul Hassan to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for physical remand in a case pertaining to the alleged dissemination of anti-state, false and defamatory content on his official social media accounts.
The anchorperson was allegedly picked up by men in plainclothes from his residence in Lahore in the early hours of Monday. However, he was produced before a judicial magistrate (East) on Tuesday, where the NCCIA sought his physical custody for interrogation.
The NCCIA had registered a case against Mr Hassan for offences under Sections 9 (Glorification of an offence), 10 (Cyber terrorism), 20 (Offences against dignity of a natural person), 24 (Cyber stalking) and 26-A (Punishment for false and fake information) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
According to the FIR, Mr Hassan has allegedly represented “lawful measures as controversial with the intent to instigate and incite the general public at large against the state and lawfully constituted authorities.”
“The accused instigated a substantial following, including the general public, on the platforms. The content was published/ posted/ broadcasted in an open, publicly accessible manner, without restriction, so as to reach and influence the public at large throughout Pakistan and abroad. The said content also wrongly glorifies the accused convicted by the honorable courts, and the statements made by the accused are prejudicial to the integrity and solidarity of the federation,” it added.
A source familiar with the matter told Dawn that the NCCIA had produced him early in the morning and informed the link judge that an FIR had been registered against Mr Hassan on October 10, after information received from its source and had arrested him on Oct 12.
The source added that the NCCIA alleged Mr Hassan had disseminated anti-state, false and defamatory content on his official social media accounts with the intention of inciting the public.
The NCCIA requested the court to grant his physical custody for 14 days to recover digital devices, and to apprehend his alleged accomplices.
At the hearing, the anchor person did not complain of maltreatment at the hand of NCCIA.
After hearing the IO, the court remanded the anchor into NCCIA custody for four days and directed the agency to produce him on Oct 17 along with progress report.
Later, Mr Hassan’s defence counsel filed an application before the concerned judicial magistrate, seeking permission to meet him in custody along with his family under Articles 10(1) and 10-A of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2026
