ISLAMABAD: A National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) deputy director, who had been reported as “abducted” while investigating the high-profile “Ducky Bhai” case, has officially surfaced and been formally arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Lahore, on charges of corruption and misuse of authority, a spokesman for NCCIA confirmed.
Muhammad Usman’s arrest adds a new dramatic layer to the ongoing probe against the NCCIA officials allegedly involved in a multi-million-rupee bribery scandal linked to YouTuber Saadur Rehman, aka Ducky Bhai.
In a major turn of events, Muhammad Usman furnished a written statement with the authorities, confirming that his disappearance was voluntary and self-imposed.
“An inquiry was underway against some of my colleagues. Out of fear, I had gone into hiding on my own. No one abducted me nor was I in anyone’s custody,” Usman stated in his confession.
He was first reported missing on October 14, with initial accounts suggesting he had been abducted from the parking area of an apartment complex. His surfacing and subsequent confession now indicate that the ‘abduction’ was, in fact, an attempt to evade an internal inquiry.
The FIA’s formal arrest of Muhammad Usman is part of a broader crackdown on alleged corruption in NCCIA. Usman, along with several other officers, was named in an FIR lodged by the FIA’s Anti-Corruption Circle in Lahore.
The case involves allegations that the NCCIA officials misused their authority to demand and receive substantial bribes from Ducky’s family for leniency in a cybercrime investigation against him.
The former “missing” officer now faces legal proceedings on charges of corruption and official misconduct, the spokesman concluded.