FIA extends probe into child pornography countrywide

By
Adnan Malik
Deputy Director FIA Khalid Anis. — Geo News screengrab

LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) extended the scope of its investigation into child sexual abuse and pornography countrywide, following the arrest of a suspect involved in online trading of such content.

FIA Deputy Director Khalid Anis said that the scope of investigation has been extended on the directives of FIA's director general.

"A two-member team has been formed, while letters have been written to FIA offices all over the country," Anis said.

The team comprises FIA officials Imran Haider and Salman Khan, added the deputy director.

On Sunday, the FIA arrested a man, Taimur Maqsood, for possessing and dealing in child porn videos from Jhang’s Satellite town.

During the raid, 60 gigabytes of data, a laptop, mobile phone, banned films and other equipment was recovered from the suspect, who is an electrical engineer by profession.

"The data recovered from the suspect has been scanned," Anis said, adding that the videos are not of Pakistani children, but of minors from other countries.

Sunday's raid in Jhang was conducted following a tip-off from Canadian law enforcement authorities via Interpol.

FIA officials had informed that Canadian authorities identified the individual after an operation in Ottawa.

The suspect, during the initial investigation, stated that he was involved in the act for his gratification.

He has been remanded into FIA's custody for four days.