- Additional director Sarfraz Chaudhry named among suspects.
- Officials accused of accepting Rs 9 crore bribe from Ducky Bhai’s wife.
- The FIA shows a greater recovery than the alleged bribery: Defense lawyer.
A Lahore court on Monday extended the physical remand of six National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) officials, who are facing bribery allegations, in the case of YouTuber Ducky Bhai.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced the arrested officials, including additional director Sarfraz Chaudhry, before a local court in Lahore after their earlier remand expired.
The arrested officers include Zafar, Shoaib Riaz, Ali Raza, Mujtaba Zafar and Yasir, accused of receiving Rs 9 million in bribes from the YouTuber’s wife.
During Monday’s hearing, the FIA requested the court to extend the physical remand of the suspects in the white-collar crime case.
The FIA prosecutor told the court that the case involves financial fraud and that more information is needed from the victims. He added that Rs 45.8 million have been recovered from the suspects till date.
The prosecutor argued that custody of the suspects is required to conduct further investigations to track down additional victims and recover more funds.
On the other hand, Mian Ali Ashfaq, the suspects’ lawyer, opposed the FIA’s request, arguing that the complainant had claimed a loss of only Rs 9 million, while the agency has already shown recoveries of Rs 45.8 million.
He questioned the legitimacy of the case and said it was “strange” that there were no complainants and that the FIA itself was trying to locate them. “If someone does not go to court in person, the law cannot help them,” he added.
The suspects’ lawyer further argued that so far no individual has recorded any statement against the suspects.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court initially reserved its verdict on the FIA’s request for physical remand. Subsequently, the judicial magistrate announced the reserved verdict, extending the physical preventive detention for three days.
According to the FIA, a case has been registered against the officials for “abuse of authority” and accepting bribes to favor a complainant in an ongoing investigation.
It is worth mentioning that YouTuber Saadur Rehman, widely known as Ducky Bhai, was arrested in August at the Lahore airport by the NCCIA.
The case against the YouTuber was registered by the state through the NCCIA at midnight on August 17.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the case includes charges under sections 13, 14, 25 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, as well as sections 294-B and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The YouTuber is accused of promoting various online betting and gaming platforms, including Binomo and 1xBet, through his YouTube channel, the FIR alleges.
