Court extends remand of suspect in disinformation case

A district court has extended the physical remand of Farhan Asif, the suspect allegedly involved in spreading disinformation that incited anti-Muslim riots in the UK, for an additional four days.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Wing presented the accused before a magistrate, requesting further remand to advance their investigation.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the court had granted the FIA a one-day physical remand of Asif, following his arrest under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.

The investigating officer informed the court that Asif's online activities, particularly his posts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), were being examined for their role in misleading the public and sparking unrest.

During Thursday's proceedings, the FIA's legal representative argued that crucial evidence still needed to be recovered from the suspect, and a detailed investigation of his social media activities was essential.

The lawyer requested an extension of the remand to allow for further inquiry.

Judge Imran Abid granted the extension, allowing the FIA four more days to continue their investigation into the case.