Court grants physical remand of man involved in fake news linked to UK riots 

Lahore: A Special court on Wednesday granted physical remand of man Farhan Asif who was held for spreading fake news which accelerated the riots in UK last month.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Wing in Lahore presented Farhan Asif before the court. The court granted a one-day physical remand of the suspect, ordering him to reappear in court tomorrow.

The court has also directed the FIA to submit a detailed investigation report by the next hearing.

Farhan Asif is accused of inciting riots in the UK by spreading fake news on social media. The FIA Cybercrime Wing registered a case against him under sections 9 and 10A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), following a complaint filed by a cybercrime technical assistant.

During the investigation, Asif confessed to the crime.

According to the first information report (FIR), the suspect shared pictures of a stabbing incident in the UK on his X (formerly Twitter) account, falsely attributing the crime to a 17-year-old Muslim boy, Ali Shakti. The fake news, which included an article posted on a website, wrongly accused the arrested individual of being Muslim, leading to widespread riots in the UK.

The FIR also mentioned that Farhan Asif admitted to providing false information to a foreign news channel. Authorities recovered two laptops and a mobile phone from the suspect, which were allegedly used in the crime. The devices will be examined as part of the ongoing investigation.