Ducky Bhai bribery case: NCCIA officials remanded for three days

Five officials of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), booked on charges of bribery and misuse of powers, were produced in the court of the Judicial Magistrate in Lahore on Tuesday. The charges were levied against them by Aroob Jatoi, wife of Saad ur Rehman (Ducky Bhai). The officials, produced in the court, include NCCIA Additional Director Chaudhry Sarfraz, Assistant Director Shoaib Riaz, Sub-Inspector Ali Raza, Assistant Director Mujtaba Zafar, and Sub-Inspector Yasir Ramzan, who are in FIA custody. The request, put forward by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), states that the accused must be investigated to recover millions, and that their remand should be granted for this purpose. During the hearing, the magistrate questioned senior lawyer Barrister Mian Ali Ashfaq, who represented the accused in court, “What investigation have you conducted so far to justify the arrests?” The lawyer answered, “The investigation is ongoing, physical remand is required to complete it.” The magistrate reserved its decision and granted a three-day physical remand of the accused. The FIR, filed on Monday under Sections 109 and 161 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), read with Section 5(2)47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1947, which defines 'criminal misconduct' by a public servant, nominates nine officials of the NCCIA. Besides the nominated accused, the FIR also names Deputy Director (acting in-charge) Zawar Ahmad, Deputy Director Operations Islamabad, Muhammad Usman, who have been missing for several days, along with Deputy Director Ayaz Khan and Salman Aziz. As per the FIR, Rehman was taken into custody by the NCCIA in connection with the inquiry of his case handed to Riaz as his Investigating Officer. The inquiry found that a total of Rs9 million had been extorted from Rehman’s family, through Riaz’s frontmen, for his judicial remand. Riaz kept Rs5 million with Zawar’s cousin for safekeeping, while Rs5 million were given to Salman Aziz and Sarfraz. AD Riaz reportedly pocketed Rs2 million, and also transferred $326,420 from Ducky Bhai’s Binance to his own account. The FIR states that the named officials were involved in extortion and they distributed money among their network. Inquiry found that the NCCIA officials were in cahoots with call centres and scam callers in Islamabad, facilitating them in return for 50 per cent of their 'earnings'. Deputy directors Usman and Ayaz were directly named in this regard. The case states that the officials were 'picked up' by the intelligence agencies during a period from August 2025 onwards, from areas including Lahore, Islamabad, and Gujranwala, before they were formally arrested and handed over for the legal proceedings.

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