The FIA team captured the suspects after receiving a complaint from the girl’s father, and confirmed that a similar case was registered against them under relevant sections of law and seized their mobile phones.
Talking to media persons, Sukkur FIA’s cybercrime wing in-charge Amjad Abbasi said the suspects’ phones contained explicit pictures of many other girls as well.
Later, FIA officials produced the suspects in the court of a judicial magistrate in Sukkur and obtained their three-day remand. Further actions are yet to be taken by the authorities.
Data from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistani research and advocacy organization Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) shows that during the lockdown period, Pakistan witnessed a sharp rise in the number of cybercrime cases.
Shedding light on the monthly reported cases, Dad observed that the DRF had registered around 697 cases at the peak in July as compared to a mere 58 cases in March — when the lockdown was in its initial phases.
According to the DRF, it registered 3,246 complaints — on their helpline and via social media — from January till December, whereas FIA sources revealed that as many as 16,000 cybercrime cases were in initial stages of investigation as of December 22.
It is significant to mention that out of the 3,246 complaints received by the DRF over the year a whopping 2,898 complaints were registered in between March and December.
In the wake the Covid-19 pandemic measures, the FIA cybercrime has asked complainants to prefer filing applications online (www.nr3c.gov.pk) at National Response Centre for Cyber Crime.
According to digital analysts and legal experts, while technology made things easier for companies and businesses in terms of operations, it also paved the way for an increase in cybercrimes.
