LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested a young supporter of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for allegedly running a bogus Facebook account to malign Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) spokesman Fawad Chaudhry.

The FIA’s cyber crime wing received a complaint from Mr Chaudhry that a malicious campaign against him was being run on social media which was not only affecting his political image but also causing sectarian hatred thus endangering his life.

An FIA cybercrime team on Monday raided the residence of Haroon Ali in the Dina area in Jhelum and arrested him.

“The user of the alleged Facebook account was traced and found registered in the name of Haroon Ali. The content found in the mobile phone of the suspect has been sent for forensic analysis,” FIA cybercrime deputy director Khalid Anees told Dawn.

Initial investigation revealed that the suspect was a PML-N supporter who had been running a “Ro Imran Ro” bogus page on Facebook, Mr Anees explained. “The suspect posted malicious content against PTI leaders including fake posts of Mr Chaudhry related to Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, and it could have endangered his life,” Mr Anees added.

FIA cyber crime deputy director further added that the suspect had not received any money to run the page as he had been doing this on his own for the love of PML-N.

A case has been registered against Haroon Ali under Section 24 of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act. It is a bailable offence with a maximum punishment of up to three years.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2018