A magistrate has granted bail to nine suspects arrested by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a raid on a Sharea Faisal call centre, in a case linked to credit card data theft. The court set bail at Rs200,000 surety for each suspect.
The nine were the last of 273 suspects, including women and juveniles, whom the NCCIA said it arrested on Nov 4 in connection with an inquiry into an alleged international financial fraud network. The magistrate had earlier granted bail to 264 of them and handed the remaining nine to the agency for further questioning.
After their second physical remand ended, the investigating officer produced the nine before the magistrate and sought a further extension, saying their custody was required to arrest their accomplices.
Defence counsel Shahab Sarki and Jam Khizer Jan, representing the suspects, opposed the request and sought their release on bail. They argued that the First Information Report (FIR) assigned no specific roles to their clients.
They also described the FIR as a “mere fishing exercise” and said the case was not maintainable because the raid was conducted without the permission required under Section 33 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
After hearing both sides, the court granted bail. It directed jail authorities to release the suspects unless they were required in any other case.
