News anchor Rehan Tariq. Photo: File
A magisterial court in Lahore on Wednesday granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) a six-day physical remand of podcaster Rehan Tariq, who was arrested in a case registered under blasphemy and cybercrime laws.
Judicial Magistrate Naeem Wattoo handed over the suspect to the investigating team for six days and directed the agency to produce him before the court again on expiry of the remand. The court also sought a progress report at the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, the case was registered on the complaint of Cyber Crime Deputy Director 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 investigating team informed the magistrate that Tariq had been taken into custody by officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the NCCIA upon his arrival at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport last night from the United Kingdom.
It said his name had already been placed on the no-fly list, due to which he was stopped at the airport.
The investigators further submitted that written complaints had been received from religious groups over allegedly controversial podcast content, including an interview with religious scholar Jawad Naqvi.
They requested one week’s physical remand, arguing that additional time was required to investigate the matter, examine Tariq’s digital accounts, seize his mobile phone and recover the original podcast recordings and related digital data.
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After hearing the prosecution, the court approved a six-day physical remand instead of the seven days sought by investigators.
Before being produced in court under tight security, Tariq and a few of his supporters raised slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad” as he stepped out of the police vehicle at the district courts.