Police registered a criminal case and arrested a suspect after an obscene video was played on digital advertising screens at Karachi’s Defense Housing Authority (DHA) on Thursday.
Southern Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Asad Raza, while speaking to Express PAkGazettesaid that during the investigation, police arrested a company employee who claimed that “another video already stored on his mobile phone was mistakenly played on the SMD screens.”
“The suspect further told investigators that the actual videos sent by the company for advertising purposes were saved on his mobile phone,” Raza said, adding that the interrogation of the arrested suspect was continuing.
The case was registered at Gizri Police Station under section 292 (sale of obscene books) of the Pakistan Penal Code following a complaint by the company’s legal advisor, Shakir Ali.
The complaint alleged that an inappropriate video was broadcast on a digital screen installed on a pole near the Ayesha Manzil signpost in Khayaban-e-Ittehad.
According to the first briefing report, the company’s chief operating officer informed Ali by phone at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday that an obscene video was playing on the screen. The complainant said he went to the site himself and turned off the screen.
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The complaint adds that company management suspected that one or more employees had gained unauthorized access to the system and played the video with the intent to defame the company.
Earlier, residents staged protests after the obscene video appeared on screens. Officials said that as a precautionary measure, digital screens installed on other major DHA roads as well as Shahrah-e-Faisal and Karsaz Road were temporarily closed.
