Case registered against KP CM Sohail Afridi under PECA Act

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: A case has been registered against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) for allegedly spreading hateful and misleading content against state institutions on social media.

According to sources, the Cyber Crime Reporting Center Islamabad registered the case on a citizen’s complaint filed at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). The complaint accused the chief minister of sharing and promoting videos containing false, baseless, and inflammatory statements targeting state and national security institutions.

The First Information Report (FIR) mentions that the alleged videos sought to damage the reputation of the state and undermine national security, claiming that Afridi’s statements and media talk outside Adiala Jail were “provocative and misleading.”

The complaint also alleges that PTI’s official social media pages also disseminated a similar video critical of state institutions, amplifying the content online.

Earlier, Federal Minister and PML-N Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Engineer Amir Muqam had termed Chief Minister Afridi’s remarks “regrettable, irresponsible, and provocative,” saying such statements “cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.”

“The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa salute the sacrifices of the Pakistan Army and security forces for peace and stability,” Muqam said, “Spreading hatred in the name of the sanctity of mosques and martyrs is highly condemnable. Such rhetoric only strengthens the enemy’s narrative and creates distrust among the people against state institutions.”

He also urged the KP chief minister to “maintain the dignity of his constitutional position” and adopt a stance of cooperation rather than confrontation with national institutions.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also condemned the statements made by the chief minister, saying that “questioning the intentions of the armed forces harms both morale and national security.”

He called on CM Afridi to exercise restraint and uphold national unity, adding that politics should not be used as a means to weaken security institutions.