NCCIA men remanded again in bribery case

A local court in Lahore has remanded six National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) officers — who are accused of taking bribes — in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for another three days — till November 3.

The FIA on Friday presented the accused — including Additional Director Chaudhry Sarfraz, Assistant Director Shoaib Riaz, Ali Raza, Zawar, Yasir Gujja — in the court of Judicial Magistrate Naeem Wattoo in handcuffs on completion of their three-day remand period.

During the hearing, the FIA submitted its investigation report, stating that a total of Rs42.55 million had been recovered from the accused officials.

The defense counsel, Advocate Munir Bhatti, argued that the FIA does not possess evidence of a single transaction, and alleged that the case was being unnecessarily sensationalized on social media, making a fair trial impossible.

After hearing the arguments, the court remanded the accused in custody for three more days and instructed the FIA to present the accused again on November 3.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday also reserved its verdict on the petition filed by the wife of NCCIA Deputy Director Muhammad Usman, seeking his recovery.

During the hearing, DSP Legal Sajid Cheema presented a report before the court, stating that a case of corruption had been registered against Usman and he was now under custody.