A Karachi court has handed journalist and Awam Raj Tehreek chief Iqrar-ul-Hassan to the NCCIA on four-day physical remand in a PECA case concerning alleged social media content.
A Karachi court on Tuesday granted the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) four-day physical remand of journalist and Awam Raj Tehreek founder Iqrar-ul-Hassan in a case registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
Iqrar-ul-Hassan was produced before Judicial Magistrate Karachi East-I on October 13, where the NCCIA sought a 14-day physical remand for further investigation. The court, however, approved custody for four days.
The case, registered as FIR No. 101/2026, invokes Sections 9, 10, 20, 24 and 26-A of PECA. According to the FIR, the NCCIA alleges that Iqrar-ul-Hassan used his accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook to disseminate false, fabricated and defamatory material intended to provoke the public against the state, its institutions and officials.
Local reporting has linked the case to his social media commentary concerning governor’s rule and emergency measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These allegations remain part of the investigation and have not been established by a court.
Iqrar-ul-Hassan was taken into custody from Lahore before being transferred to Karachi. His family had earlier alleged that individuals in plain clothes took him from his residence during the early hours and that they were initially not informed of his whereabouts. His wife also alleged that electronic devices and CCTV material were taken from the house.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the magistrate asked Iqrar-ul-Hassan whether he had been subjected to physical violence in custody, to which he replied that he had not been beaten.
The four-day remand allows the NCCIA to continue questioning and collecting evidence. The allegations have not yet been proven in court, and criminal liability will be determined through judicial proceedings.