News anchor Rehan Tariq. Photo: File
A magistrate court in Lahore on Wednesday granted the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a six-day remand to podcaster Rehan Tariq, who was arrested in a case registered under the blasphemy and cybercrime laws.
Judicial Magistrate Naeem Wattoo handed over the suspect to the investigation team for six days and ordered the agency to produce him again before the court when the remand expires. The court also asked for a progress report in the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, the case was registered following the complaint of Deputy Director of Cyber Crime Rizwan Sabir under various provisions, including Section 295-A (insulting religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
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The investigation team informed the magistrate that Tariq was arrested by officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and NCCIA upon his arrival at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore yesterday evening from the United Kingdom.
He said his name had already been put on the no-fly list, which was why he was arrested at the airport.
Investigators further said written complaints were received from religious groups regarding allegedly controversial podcast content, including an interview with cleric Jawad Naqvi.
They requested a week’s pretrial detention, arguing that additional time was needed to investigate the matter, examine Tariq’s digital accounts, seize his cell phone and recover the original podcast recordings and associated digital data.
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After hearing the prosecution, the court approved a six-day pretrial detention instead of the seven days requested by investigators.
Before being produced in the court under tight security, Tariq and a few of his supporters raised slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ as he alighted from the police vehicle outside the district courts.
