LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has registered FIRs against three more known YouTubers for allegedly promoting illegal gambling applications on their social media pages.

On Thursday, the NCCIA booked social media influencers -- Iqra Kanwal, also known as sisterology, Nadeem Mubarak alias Nani Wala and Muhammad Hasnain Shah. NCCIA claimed that they were summoned three times to record their statements, but they deliberately avoided joining the inquiry against them.

“The three have been accused of promoting illegal online trading applications and luring Pakistani citizens into investing in these apps by tempting them with promises of profit, thereby misleading them,” it said and added that special NCCIA raiding teams had been formed to arrest the suspects.

A day before, the NCCIA registered FIRs against YouTubers Rajab Butt, Muhammad Anas and Huraira under different sections of PECA for allegedly promoting gambling and illegal apps.

These applications, Binomo, 1xBet, Bet 365 and B9 Game, among others, defrauded users by taking “their hard-earned money” and not paying out any profits.

Rajab Butt is accused of acting as a brand ambassador for Binomo and promoting illegal applications in his YouTube and TikTok videos.

This is not the first time Butt has gotten into trouble with the law, he was booked under the blasphemy laws and PECA in March over the name of his perfume “295”. In December 2024, he was arrested for illegally keeping weapons and a lion cub at his residence. Sensing trouble in Pakistan, Rajab Butt managed to leave the country for London.

The NCCIA earlier arrested YouTuber Saadur Rehman, popularly known as Ducky Bhai and YouTuber Mudassar Hassan for allegedly promoting gambling apps and encouraging the youth to invest in schemes that lack regulatory approval.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2025