- Chadhar faces allegations of harassment and cyber threats.
- Iqbal recently approached the NCCIA.
- Threat messages traced to a number linked to Chadhar.
LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has registered a case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) legislator Saqib Chadhar under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) over allegations of cyber harassment, blackmail and threats against actress and model Momina Iqbal.
The case was registered after Iqbal recently approached the NCCIA with a complaint against the Punjab Assembly member.
According to the FIR, Chadhar, his wife and several associates allegedly subjected Iqbal to cyber harassment and blackmail, while threatening her and her family members. The suspects face accusations of conducting illegal surveillance and threatening the actress and her family members.
The FIR of the case stated that Iqbal had rejected Chadhar’s marriage proposal after finding out that he was already married. After the refusal, the legislator allegedly began to blackmail her by sending her private videos and threatening to leak her personal data if she did not agree to marry him.
Investigators also alleged that Chadhar made false allegations against the actor in 2023, leading to the breakdown of a previous marriage proposal.
According to the complaint, threatening messages were sent to Iqbal, her current husband and her family members. Similar messages were also apparently sent to his sister.
The FIR said the threatening messages were traced to a phone number associated with Chadhar. He added that blackmail videos allegedly sent by the legislator were recovered from Iqbal’s mobile phone.
Iqbal’s sister, who is a lawyer, provided the NCCIA with a video related to the alleged threats, the FIR said. The video and a mobile phone were detained as digital evidence and sent for forensic examination.
The FIR further alleged that the provincial legislator deleted data and applications from his mobile phone before sending the device to the NCCIA.
Earlier, Iqbal had approached the Chung police station in Lahore, seeking registration of a case against Chadhar, accusing him of harassment, blackmail and death threats. In her application, she alleged that the lawmaker had repeatedly contacted her and her fiancé, who is now her husband, threatened them and used abusive language after she rejected his marriage proposal.
He also alleged that Chadhar made threatening calls on WhatsApp and sent messages, while similar threats were sent to his sister’s phone. Reports said that the actress, accompanied by her lawyers, had met Chung Police Station SHO Faheem Imdad to report the matter.
It may be noted that the matter came to light during the preparations for Iqbal’s wedding. He got married earlier this week.
