KARACHI: A local court on Thursday rejected TV anchorperson Iqrarul Hassan’s bail plea in a cybercrime case pertaining to the alleged dissemination of anti-state content.
Hassan was arrested last week for allegedly disseminating anti-state, false and defamatory content through his official social media accounts. He was booked under multiple sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
According to an order issued by the judicial magistrate, a copy of which is available with Dawn, “the order disposes of the bail application filed under Section 497 of the CrPC on behalf of the applicant/accused, Syed Iqrar Ul Hassan, son of Syed Muhammad Ismail, who has been arrested in connection with FIR No. 101/2026 registered at Police Station NCCIA, Cyber Crime Reporting Centre, Karachi, under Sections 9, 10, 20, 24 and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (as amended in 2025)”.
The notice of the bail application was served on the NCCIA’s additional director (legal), the order states.
Earlier this week, Hassan was sent to prison on judicial remand after the NCCIA sought an extension of his physical remand by another eight days.
However, Karachi (East) Judicial Magistrate-I Gulraiz Memon observed that the agency had been given “sufficient time of physical custody”.
“No cogent reason has been given by NCCIA for extension of physical custody; therefore, the accused is remanded to judicial custody till Oct 26,” the judge stated in his order.
The court also issued notices to the NCCIA on a bail application filed by Hassan’s defence counsel, Barrister Mian Ali Ashfaq, and fixed the matter for hearing on Oct 21.
On Oct 17, Hassan was produced before Judicial Magistrate Memon upon the completion of his initial four-day physical remand. The NCCIA sought a further 10 days of custody for questioning, but the magistrate rejected the request and granted the agency two more days.
The magistrate also dismissed a plea filed by Hassan’s counsel under Section 63 of the CrPC seeking his discharge from the case.
In its remand report, the NCCIA said the investigation had progressed but several important aspects remained to be examined in light of the forensic analysis of Hassan’s seized digital devices and records from other departments, including the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).
The agency said digital devices containing 1,145.89 gigabytes of data had been handed over to its forensic team for analysis to identify relevant applications, social media accounts, email accounts, stored files and communications linked to the alleged content.
The NCCIA also sought further custody to trace the “origin, relation, financial correlation and cross-border linkages (if any)” of the posts.
In his earlier order, the magistrate observed that collecting digital footprints, technical data and forensic evidence required reasonable time, adding that discharging an accused while the investigation was under way could hamper the process.
The NCCIA alleged that the content was intended to incite the public against constitutional implementation and could cause panic, disorder and unrest.
Hassan was booked under sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyberterrorism), 24 (cyberstalking) and 26A (Punishment for false and fake information) of Peca. He had been critical of the government’s policies on social media.