FIA arrests NCCIA officers over alleged bribe from YouTuber Ducky Bhai's wife

Lahore (Web Desk): Six officers of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) were brought before a Lahore court on Tuesday after being accused of taking Rs9 million in bribes from the wife of well-known YouTuber Saadur Rehman, popularly known as Ducky Bhai.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) presented the suspects before Judicial Magistrate Naeem Wattoo, seeking their physical remand to recover the alleged bribe and continue investigations.

The arrested officials have been identified as Additional Director Chaudhry Sarfraz, along with officers Zafar, Shoaib Riaz, Ali Raza, Mujtaba Zafar, and Yasir. According to the FIA, the group is facing charges of abusing their authority and accepting illegal payments in exchange for granting undue advantage to a complainant in an active inquiry.

During court proceedings, the FIA’s representative argued that physical remand was necessary to trace and recover the bribed amount and to further verify the chain of events linked to the corruption charges. On the other hand, the defence counsel, Advocate Ali Ashfaq, opposed the request, asserting that the arrests were made unlawfully as they lacked the mandatory approval from the FIA’s Director General.

Ashfaq maintained that the complaint on which the case was based was incomplete, missing essential information such as the address of the person alleged to have paid the bribe.

He further pointed out that the FIR was filed merely twenty minutes after the complaint was lodged, suggesting procedural irregularities. The defence urged the court to dismiss the FIA’s plea for remand.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court decided to reserve its ruling on whether to grant the remand.

It is worth mentioning that YouTuber Ducky Bhai was detained by the NCCIA in August at Lahore airport following the registration of a case by the agency itself at midnight on August 17.

The FIR included sections 13, 14, 25, and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, along with sections 294-B and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The case accused the YouTuber of promoting online gambling and betting applications such as Binomo and 1xBet through his YouTube platform.

Earlier, Ducky Bhai’s wife Aroob Jatoi filed a complaint at the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle in Lahore, alleging that certain officials abused their authority by initiating unlawful actions against her husband and misusing his personal information.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Investigating Officer Shoaib Riaz had allegedly received Rs9 million in bribes from Ducky Bhai, paid through both cash and cheque. It was further disclosed that the officer also compelled the YouTuber to transfer $326,000 into his Binance cryptocurrency account.

The complaint further claimed that several officers from the Lahore Cyber Crime Wing operated as part of an organized network, extorting large sums of money under the guise of cracking down on illegal call centers and digital offenses.

A portion of these bribes was allegedly sent to senior officials at the Islamabad headquarters, with Deputy Director Muhammad Usman also named in the report.

The FIR accuses the suspects of running a bribery racket, misusing official powers, and engaging in systematic corruption.