Pakistani accused of triggering UK riots is a lone wolf

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani citizen, Farhan Asif, whose fake news triggered riots in the United Kingdom has turned out to be a lone wolf, investigation has revealed.

Not only did he feed lie to the British people, he was also successful in misleading the BBC into believing that there was a team of people drawn from different countries to work for the website, Channel3Now, and that the fake news was run by another team member, not him.

The Lahore Police took him into custody a couple of days ago after locating him through the face trace technology by using his picture, which appeared on ITV. Since the offence committed by him fell under the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Authority, he was subsequently handed over to the agency which registered an FIR against him and started interrogation.

Farhat shot to notoriety after July 29 when three girls were stabbed dead in Southport, a seaside town, in the UK. That day, he posted an article with a headline: “17-year-old Ali Al Shakati arrested in connection with a stabbing incident in Southport, England.” This contained a false claim about the arrest of a Muslim asylum seeker in the stabbing incident. This was widely shared in social media which resulted in violent riots spearheaded by the far right.

Investigation has revealed that Farhan is a 31-year-old graduate in computer sciences. He is a web developer and runs the Channel3Now website. He doesn’t have any background in journalism. For him, aggregating sensational news from the Western countries was not more than a source of earning as click hits from the rich countries fetch more dollars than the viewership in the developing world.

He has never been to the UK. Only once he went abroad and that was to Saudi Arabia for Umrah purpose. He lives in a rented portion in the Defense Housing Authority. His brother is a police constable. Sensational news platforms fetch him between Rs300,000 to Rs400,000 per month, he told investigators who have yet to see his bank statements. He would make money through rumble.com, twitter, Facebook and Instagram. His Youtube channel and Facebook account have been suspended.

Farhan uses several identities to disguise himself including the one he used to communicate with the BBC which spoke to one Kevin, a purported member of this so-called channel based in Huston (USA). He had told the BBC through an official email address that the controversial story was run by a team member from the UK and the website had already apologized. Kevin said the news had nothing to do with Farhan.

During the investigation, Farhan said that he purchased Facebook ID “Kevin” from Google and used it for the news sharing. He also admitted having used that to communicate with the BBC for diverting attention from himself. He further told the investigators that he picked the news from another website kossyderrikent.com and was also shared on a twitter account @bernie run by a UK-based woman who has also been arrested. Farhan was the third one to share the news through his website and social media accounts.