The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has secured the release of 98 women and an unspecified number of juvenile boys arrested during a raid on an allegedly illegal call centre on Sharea Faisal, following an order issued by a judicial magistrate on Thursday.
The development came a day after the agency arrested 273 suspects, including women, during a raid on the premises on November 4. The operation was part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged international financial fraud network involving the theft of credit card information through spoofed calls.
On Thursday, the investigating officer (IO) appeared before Judicial Magistrate (East) Gulraiz Memon and submitted a notification issued by the Sindh Home Department declaring the call centre premises a sub-jail.
The IO informed the court that security concerns and the large number of arrested suspects had made their physical production difficult. The court subsequently directed the authorities to present them through a video link.
During the proceedings, the judge observed that some of the suspects appeared to be underage. The investigating officer said their ages would need to be verified.
The IO further requested physical custody of only nine suspects, including the alleged owners of the call centre, while seeking judicial remand for the remaining male suspects.
Defence counsel Shahab Sarki argued that most of the arrested individuals were women or minors. He maintained that under the juvenile justice legislation, minors could not be detained in prison and should be released on bail, particularly as the alleged offences were not of a serious nature.
He also sought bail for the female suspects under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Another defence lawyer, Ali Akbar Poonawala, submitted the B-Forms of two suspects and requested their release under the Juvenile Justice System Act.
After hearing the arguments, the court granted bail to 98 female suspects and juvenile male detainees, subject to verification of their ages through National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) records. Each suspect was required to furnish a surety bond of Rs5,000.
The court remanded nine suspects to NCCIA custody for further investigation, while the remaining male detainees were sent to prison on judicial remand.
Earlier, NCCIA Additional Director Shahzad Akbar told a press conference that the call centre was allegedly involved in fraudulent activities targeting foreign nationals through impersonation, misuse of identities and caller ID spoofing.
He said preliminary investigations suggested that the facility was operating under the cover of debt validation services.
According to the official, individuals associated with the operation allegedly posed as representatives of foreign banks and debt validation companies, contacting people abroad and offering assistance in verifying their outstanding financial obligations.
Akbar said investigators had found reasonable grounds to suspect that the scheme aimed to obtain sensitive personal and financial information from victims, including Social Security Numbers and payment card details.
He added that initial findings indicated the acquired information was subsequently used to facilitate unauthorised financial transactions through merchant accounts.
The proceeds were allegedly transferred to Pakistan through company accounts and remittance channels, suggesting possible cross-border movement of illicit funds.
The NCCIA registered a case under Sections 3, 4, 13, 14, 16 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, covering unauthorised access to information systems, illegal copying or transmission of data, electronic forgery, electronic fraud, misuse of identity information and spoofing.
Meanwhile, relatives of the arrested suspects and local residents staged a protest near Baloch Colony Bridge on Sharea Faisal, disrupting traffic along one of Karachi’s main roads.
The demonstrators objected to the arrests, particularly those of around 100 women, claiming that their children were employed at the call centre and had no involvement in unlawful activities.
They demanded the immediate release of the detained individuals.
