Govt changes NCCIA DG as corruption scandal widens

The federal government replaced the director general of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Tuesday amid an ongoing corruption scandal concerning its employees and other issues.

The federal government established the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to probe illegal activities on social med­ia. The NCCIA, operating under the Interior Divi­sion, has a key role in combating cybercrime in Pakistan.

Notifications issued from the Cabinet Secretariat’s Establishment Division today said Syed Khurram Ali, a BS-21 officer of the police service, was appointed as the new NCCIA DG with immediate effect, replacing Waqaruddin Syed, who was directed to report to the division immediately.

The latter was appointed to the role in April.

Earlier today, a Lahore court granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a three-day physical remand of six NCCIA officials in a case registered against them for allegedly misusing their authority, extorting money and taking bribes.

The first information report (FIR) of the case has been registered with the FIA Anti-Corruption Circle Lahore on the complaint of Aroob Jatoi, the wife of YouTuber Saadur Rehman alias Ducky Bhai, who has been arrested in a case pertaining to promoting gambling apps on social media.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with media.com, was registered against nine individuals, including eight NCCIA officials, at 7:35pm yesterday. Among them, the six remanded in the FIA custody were said to be missing for several days before the FIA announced their arrest yesterday.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of another official nominated in the case — Muhammad Usman, the NCCIA deputy director of operations in Islamabad — have also been unknown for several days.

Lahore NCCIA’s Additional Director Sarfraz Chaudhry, Lahore NCCIA Deputy Director (acting in-charge) Zawar Ahmad, Lahore NCCIA Sub-Inspector Ali Raza, Lahore NCCIA Assistant Director Shoaib Riaz, Lahore NCCIA Sub-Inspector Yasir Ramzan and Lahore NCCIA Assistant Director Mujtaba Zafar are the six officials about whom it emerged yesterday that they had been arrested by the FIA.

Meanwhile, unhappy with the performance of the NCCIA, the Punjab government has decided in pri­nciple to set up its own wing to deal with the rising incidents of cybercrime in the province.

After the NCCIA was established in May this year — replacing the FIA Cybercrime Wing — the Pun­jab government tried to develop a “working relationship” with the federal authority, but it did not yield results.

Meanwhile, the NCCIA itself has been struggling with severe manpower shor­t­ages as thousands of complaints pour in each month. With a large backlog and limited resources, the authority has been unable to process cases efficiently.