Six suspects granted bail in credit card data theft case

A judicial magistrate has granted post-arrest bail to six suspects in a case pertaining to alleged theft of credit card data through spoofed calls.

The Federal Investigation Agency's Cyber Crime Reporting Centre had arrested Muhammad Kashif, Umair Karim, Noshad Karim, Mehtab Ali, Obaid Akram and Haider Karim, in a raid on an ‘illegal’ call centre in the PECHS area of Karachi last week.

The suspects through their lawyer Mian Rafiu Ahmed Tunio moved an application before Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq seeking their release on bail. After hearing arguments from both sides, the magistrate granted bail to the six men against a surety of Rs300,000 each.

The counsel contended that his clients had been falsely implicated in the case without any credible evidence to connect them with the commission of the alleged offenses. He said that the call centre was operating legally and certified by the relevant ministry.

"The prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case against the applicants. The FIR and supporting documents lack specific evidence linking the applicants to the alleged offenses of data theft or online fraud," he added.

The counsel argued that the prosecution had not produced any evidence of financial gain or direct involvement of the applicants in fraudulent activities. "Mere possession of electronic devices is insufficient to establish criminal intent," he said, pleading with the court to grant bail to the men.

On the other hand, the FIA prosecutor opposed the suspects' bail plea and argued that the investigation was still in its initial stages and that the suspects needed to remain in custody to ensure the completion of the probe.

According to the FIA, Nawab Khan, a resident of Saadi Town, had filed a complaint with the agency, alleging that the suspects were running an illegal call centre and involved in the theft of “confidential financial data of credit cards of foreign nationals through online scam”.