ISLAMABAD – The court has handed over PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan and other suspects to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for an additional two-day physical remand.
The FIA presented Raoof Hassan and others before Duty Judge Mureed Abbas at the District and Sessions Courts in Islamabad after completing a three-day physical remand under the PECA Act.
PTI social media activist Syeda Arooba Kanwal was also presented for physical remand. Arooba was arrested by the FIA the previous day. The FIA prosecutor stated that transcripts of anti-state videos were included in the record and required forensic analysis, requesting an additional eight-day physical remand.
Judge Mureed Abbas inquired if Raoof Hassan had a visa or ticket from India and acknowledged chatting with a person named Rahul. The FIA prosecutor confirmed that Raoof Hassan had received a travel ticket from India.
Raoof Hassan responded that he runs a regional think tank, Rahul resides in the UK, and had invited him to Bahrain as a guest speaker. He added that he is a senior fellow at King’s College London and is responsible for dealing with electronic media, not social media.
The FIA prosecutor stated that Arooba handles PTI’s X account and has not yet surrendered the accounts. PTI’s lawyer argued that Arooba handles the party’s social media accounts as an employee and that the case revolves around mobile phones, all of which are with the FIA.
Advocate Ali Bukhari requested the discharge of Raoof Hassan and others from the case.
After hearing the arguments, the court granted a two-day physical remand of Raoof Hassan and others to the FIA, while Syeda Arooba, head of PTI’s Facebook team, was sent to jail on judicial remand.
