A case was registered against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Islamabad over his “profane” and “misleading” remarks about state institutions.

Afridi had made the remarks referred to in the FIR on Nov 6 during an interaction with the media outside Adiala jail after he was once again denied an audience with PTI founder Imran Khan.

He had alleged that security forces in KP would bring dogs into mosques and tie them down there, thereby violating the sanctity of holy places. His statement sparked an outcry, drawing condemnations.

Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was registered against him today on behalf of the state and under Sections 11, 20 and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, stated that following an inquiry dated November 8, it transpired that Afridi and others had “knowingly and deliberately, with mala fide intentions and ulterior motives, uttered false, misleading, derogatory and intimidating words against state institutions, which were recorded [and] disseminated and propagated” through social media platforms. In this connection, the FIR particularly mentioned the PTI’s YouTube channel.

It said that in a video uploaded on the channel, Afridi had made a statement “containing offensive, profane, false, misleading and unfounded allegations, with the intent to malign, defame and cause harm to the reputation and integrity of the state institutions of Pakistan”.

The “false, fake and ill-will content, publicly and intentionally uttered and promoted by the accused and others through social media is an organised attempt to undermine public trust on state institutions, including racial hatred, create unrest in the country and destablise national security”, it was alleged in the FIR.

In the report, Afridi was also accused of being involved in “preparing, publishing, sharing and circulating fake and misleading contents publicly on social media with the intention to incite violence, create racial hatred, panic, fear, disorder and unrest among the general public alongwith promoting anti-state sentiments, which is detrimental to the security, integrity and stability of Pakistan”.