ISLAMABAD: A man has been apprehended by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle Islamabad for allegedly launching a hate campaign against government institutions from Bani Gala.
The suspect allegedly disseminated propaganda and disparaging material about the Jaffar Express terrorist attack, the FIA said.
The FIA Cyber Crime Circle said that the suspect was involved in promoting and publicising banned organisations on social media.
Authorities have seized the suspect’s social media accounts and digital evidence as part of the investigation.
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) carried out an attack on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express by blowing up train track and held around 440 passengers hostage in more than a day-long standoff with security forces in a remote mountain pass on March 11.
The military, after clearing the train and rescuing hostages, said it killed 33 attackers. Before the operation began, terrorists had martyred 26 passengers, while four security personnel were martyred during the operation.
Giving a breakdown of the casualties in the incident, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on March 14 revealed that 26 martyred train passengers included 18 security personnel from the army and the FC, three officials from Pakistan Railways and other departments and five civilians.
Condemning the terrorist attack, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif condemned the spread of misinformation on social media, highlighting that a post from a PTI-affiliated page falsely claimed that 100 people had been martyred in the Jaffer Express tragedy.
“The entire nation witnessed how PTI’s social media interpreted the incident,” Asif said. “Instead of acknowledging the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces, they promoted a false narrative, claiming the terrorists themselves released the hostages.”
The minister expressed deep sorrow over the loss of innocent lives in the attack, emphasising that such tragedies cause immense grief, which is further aggravated by the spread of misinformation.
He alleged that this misleading account was circulated by verified PTI-affiliated accounts, particularly those operated by supporters living abroad.
Meanwhile, during his press briefing, the DG ISPR had slammed the Indian media and said that fake videos were created by using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread malicious propaganda regarding Jaffar Express attack on the social media platforms.
“Indian media spread propaganda by using the fake videos to exaggerate the situation,” he said.
“India media tried to create a narrative [against Pakistan] by airing fake videos,” he said, adding that the Indian media also played terrorists’ old videos taken from the social media.
