India also linked to anti-army propaganda

204 accounts being handled by people within Pakistan and another 17 from India, probe committee reveals

ISLAMABAD:

A joint inquiry team formed by the government on Wednesday detected a total of 774 social media accounts responsible for a bulk of the misleading claims and smear campaign against the military, with many of them found to be operating from India as well as from within the country.

The revelations were made during a session of the committee summoned by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for a briefing on the progress made in the case so far. The Cyber Crimes Wing (CCW) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) also informed the ministry about the case’s proceedings.

Key officials including the secretary interior ministry, director general FIA and other team members were also in attendance. The inquiry team informed that over 17 accounts were found to be operating from India whereas 204 accounts out of 774 accounts were being handled by people inside Pakistan.

Similarly, the team shared that around 90 people who were shortlisted during the course of the investigations were being thoroughly probed.

The development comes amid an ongoing online smear campaign stoking speculations about the recent helicopter crash that resulted in the martyrdom of six army officers in Lasbela. The conspiracy theory fell on the fertile ground after similar allegations echoed from certain political activists who fumed against the military.

During Wednesday’s briefing, sources confirmed that the interior ministry expressed satisfaction over the investigation and instructed the probe body to proceed with a “zero-tolerance policy”.

“The law should take its due course and those who harm the reputation of the country’s institutions and hurt the hearts of the martyrs and their families should be brought to justice,” Sanaullah was quoted as saying during the meeting.

It is pertinent to mention that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had constituted the joint inquiry committee on Sunday. The team includes representatives of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) along with the FIA.