On Thursday, a district court in Lahore extended the physical remand of a local resident, Farhan Asif, by four more days. Asif is accused of playing a role in inciting recent anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots in the UK through disinformation.
Initially detained by Lahore police, Asif was later handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing. The FIA presented him before a magistrate, requesting an extension of his physical remand for further investigation.
The case against Asif stems from allegations that he uploaded a misleading news article on the website Channel3Now, which reportedly contributed to the unrest in the UK. On Wednesday, a judicial magistrate had granted the FIA one-day custody of Asif under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.
During today’s hearing, the judicial magistrate extended Asif’s remand by four more days, with instructions for him to be produced in court again after that period. The FIA’s lawyer argued that additional evidence needed to be recovered from the suspect, and an investigation into his posts on X (formerly Twitter) was required. The request for an extension was granted by Judge Imran Abid.
The case follows riots in the UK triggered by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport, where disinformation falsely claimed that the British-born 17-year-old suspect was a Muslim immigrant. UK media later traced the origins of the misleading information to Channel3Now, a platform with ties to Pakistan.
