May 24, 2022 – A man has been arrested in Peshawar for allegedly running a fake account in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s name with over 30,000 followers, local media has reported.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a case against the suspect after he was arrested in a raid. According to the FIR, he created an imposter account of PM Shehbaz and “uploaded false and frivolous tweets with the intent to malign the PM”. The suspect has been booked under Section 16 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) and Sections 419 and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The arrest was confirmed by PM Shehbaz’s focal person on digital media Abubakar Umar as well.
Dissent is welcome. Disinformation is not.
Person behind this account (RameezRajaLive) has been traced & apprehended for impersonating the PM & misleading the people.
He confessed it and a case u/s 16, PECA 2016 r/w 419, 505 PPC has been registered.
Law to take its course. pic.twitter.com/7XgPtG52Ol
— Abubakar Umer (@abubakarumer) May 23, 2022
A tweet from the same account was shared last week by Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut on her Instagram Stories. As her post went viral, several media outlets fact-checked the account seen in Ranaut’s post and reported that it was fake.
Earlier this month, FIA Cybercrime Wing arrested a man in Peshawar for allegedly uploading doctored images of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz. Maryam had filed a complaint with the agency against the “objectionable” photos circulating on social media. Local media had reported the suspect to be associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
