A magistrate court in Karachi has granted post-arrest bail to nine suspects arrested by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in connection with an alleged credit card data theft case involving a call centre on Shahrah-e-Faisal.
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The suspects were among 273 people arrested by the NCCIA during a raid on November 4. The agency had said the arrests were linked to an ongoing investigation into an alleged international financial fraud network.
Following their arrest, a magistrate granted bail to 264 suspects, while the remaining nine were handed over to the NCCIA for further investigation.
After the completion of their second physical remand, the investigating officer produced the nine suspects before the magistrate and requested another extension of their physical remand.
The officer argued that further custody was necessary to investigate the case and arrest other people allegedly involved in the network.
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However, defence lawyers Shahab Sarki and Jam Khizer Jan opposed the request. They asked the court to grant bail, arguing that the first information report (FIR) did not assign specific roles to the suspects.
The defence counsel also described the FIR as a “mere fishing exercise” and challenged the legal basis of the case. They argued that the raid had been conducted without obtaining the permission required under Section 33 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
After hearing arguments from both sides, the magistrate granted post-arrest bail to all nine suspects against surety bonds of Rs200,000 each.
In its order, the court directed jail authorities to release the suspects if they were not wanted in connection with any other case.
The bail order concerns the nine suspects who remained in NCCIA custody after the earlier proceedings involving the other 264 arrested individuals. The allegations in the case remain subject to investigation and judicial proceedings.
