NCCIA officers’ physical remand extended, Rs42.5m recovered

LAHORE: A Lahore district court on Friday approved a three-day extension in the physical remand of six officers of the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a bribery case and ordered that they be produced again on November 3.

The six NCCIA officers, arrested on charges of taking bribes, were presented before the district court after completion of their three-day physical remand. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) requested a 14-day extension in their physical remand, while the defence counsel opposed the request, arguing that the officers had already been on remand for three days and that there was no need for further custody.

The defence also contended that the FIA had no concrete evidence to support its bribery allegations.

The FIA had registered a case against nine individuals, including six officers of the NCCIA, on charges of accepting a bribe of Rs9 million from the family of YouTuber Saad Ur Rehman, aka Ducky Bhai, in exchange for granting relief to him and his wife. The case also includes allegations of misuse of authority and other offences in connection with the alleged promotion of gambling apps.

The accused include NCCIA Additional Director Sarfraz Chaudhry, Deputy Director Zawar Ahmed, Assistant Directors Shoaib Riaz and Mujtaba Zafar, as well as Deputy Directors Muhammad Usman and Ayaz Khan, posted at the NCCIA headquarters.

In addition, two sub-inspectors, Ali Raza and Yasir Ramzan, and a civilian, Usman Aziz, who is allegedly a frontman for Shoaib Riaz, have also been named in the case.

Presenting its investigation report, the FIA informed the court that Rs42.55 million had been recovered from the arrested officers.

According to the report, Rs7 million was recovered from Ali Raza, Rs0.9 million from Zawar, Rs1.9 million from Yasir Gujjar, Rs3.648 million from Shoaib Riaz and Rs12.548 million from Sarfraz Chaudhry.

The FIA has also launched an inquiry into assets beyond known sources of income of the arrested NCCIA officers. The investigating officer told the court that the assets of all suspects were being examined and relevant records were being collected.

Investigations were also under way to determine from which call centres the suspects had been receiving money.

Later, the court reserved its decision and subsequently handed the suspects back to the FIA on a three-day physical remand, ordering their production in court again on November 3.

Earlier, the FIA had confirmed the arrest of NCCIA Deputy Director Muhammad Usman.

According to the FIA, Usman has been taken into custody in a case involving abuse of authority, bribery, and extortion.