On Thursday, a district court extended the physical remand of a Lahore resident by four days. The man is accused of inciting recent anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots in the UK through disinformation.
Initially detained by Lahore police, the suspect was later transferred to the FIA’s cybercrime division, which sought his physical remand for further investigation. On Wednesday, a judicial magistrate had granted the FIA one day of physical custody for Farhan Asif, who is alleged to have posted a misleading news article on Channel3Now’s website.
The investigating officer informed the court that a case against Asif was filed under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (Peca) 2016. During today’s hearing, the magistrate granted an additional four days of remand and ordered Asif to be produced again after this period.
The FIA’s lawyer requested the extension to recover evidence from the accused and to investigate his posts on X. Judge Imran Abid approved the extension.
Following riots in the UK after the stabbing of three young girls in Southport, law enforcement began investigating claims that disinformation came from a Pakistani-affiliated website. Reports indicated that Channel3Now spread false claims about the suspect, while ITV News identified a Pakistani individual as the source of the misinformation.
