On Thursday, a district court extended the physical remand of a Lahore resident for four additional days, following allegations that he contributed to recent anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots in the UK through disinformation.
The suspect, initially detained by Lahore police, was transferred to the FIA cybercrime wing. The agency presented the individual, identified as Farhan Asif, before a magistrate to request his remand for further investigation. On Wednesday, a judicial magistrate granted the FIA one day of physical custody for Asif, who is suspected of posting misleading information on Channel3Now’s website.
The investigating officer informed the court that a case had been filed against Asif under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. During today’s hearing, the magistrate extended Asif’s remand by an additional four days and ordered his reappearance after the extension period.
The FIA’s lawyer argued that additional evidence from Asif needed to be recovered and that further investigation was required into his social media activity on X. The request for an extension was granted by Judge Imran Abid.
This case comes more than a week after riots erupted in the UK following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport. Investigations have suggested that the disinformation, which falsely claimed the British-born 17-year-old suspect was a Muslim immigrant, originated from a Pakistani website. UK media reports indicated Channel3Now as the source of this false news, while ITV News attributed the misinformation to an individual in Pakistan.
