ISLAMABAD: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has registered a case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President and MNA Junaid Akbar over remarks he made about the party’s planned September 27 protest in Islamabad.
The case was lodged on behalf of the state by Muhammad Umair Warsi, a technical assistant at the NCCIA’s Cyber Crime Reporting Centre in Islamabad, under Sections 9, 10 and 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.
The first information report (FIR) said a complaint was received regarding alleged anti-state content posted by Junaid Akbar through his official TikTok account.
According to the FIR, the account has around 339,500 followers, allowing the alleged content to reach a substantial audience and generate considerable public engagement.
The report alleged that the PTI leader’s statement contained threats aimed at intimidating the government and creating fear and insecurity among the public.
The FIR quoted Akbar as saying: “We will turn Islamabad into Somnath; just as there were 17 attacks on Somnath, there will be 17 attacks on Islamabad.”
Investigators alleged that the remarks could promote hatred, encourage individuals to take the law into their own hands and pose a threat to public safety as well as government and private property.
The alleged online material has been booked under Sections 9, 10 and 11 of PECA, according to the FIR.
The development comes ahead of PTI’s announced nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad on September 27. The party has been demanding the release of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan.
Akbar made the controversial remarks during an address in Peshawar on September 20. He said PTI workers would enter Islamabad through different routes, including the motorway and Grand Trunk Road, while other groups would approach the capital via the Margalla Hills and Dera Ismail Khan.
The PTI leader subsequently clarified his comments, arguing that his Somnath reference had been “given a wrong spin”. He maintained that the party intended to hold a peaceful protest through constitutional means.
The reference is linked to Mahmud of Ghazni’s campaign against the Somnath temple in the Indian subcontinent in the early 11th century.
Historical accounts state that Mahmud’s forces overcame resistance at Somnath and entered the temple, which was subsequently destroyed during the campaign.
