Four arrested by FIA over cybercrime

LAHORE: Four men were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing on Friday for blackmailing girls over WhatsApp. The families of the victims had filed a complaint with the FIA, after which an investigation was initiated by the agency. During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that girls were being blackmailed and threatened in different localities of the provincial capital. The accused were blackmailing girls through objectionable videos and other material, said a spokesperson from the law enforcement agency. The accused were identified as Harris Imran, Talha Zahir, Fakhruddin and Abdul Rauf. In July, a man was arrested in Karachi by the FIA for possessing ‘compromising’ footage of a 12-year-old girl. The alleged culprit used to take young girls’ mobile phone numbers from his friend who worked at a mobile top-up shop. He would then befriend girls and then make objectionable videos and photos of them. Later, the accused Nabraz would proceed to blackmail the victims by using the inappropriate footage.  

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2019.