NCCIA reports 1,129 arrests and Rs105.3 million returned to victims in its new chief's first month
The cybercrime agency says it registered 272 cases from 5,176 complaints since Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi took charge, after a week of raids on seven Lahore call centres.
Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency says it arrested 1,129 suspects and returned Rs105.3 million to victims in the first month under its new director general, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi. The agency released the figures on Sunday, 18 October, in a one month performance report.
The numbers describe a funnel. The NCCIA received 5,176 complaints, registered 4,491 of them as inquiries, and opened 272 formal cases once those inquiries were complete. The agency has not said how the 1,129 arrests divide across those cases, or how many suspects have been charged or are still in custody.
Call centres in Lahore
The largest single operation in the month came on 9 October, when Additional Director Atif Ameer told a Lahore press conference that the agency had arrested 281 suspects in raids on seven illegal call centres during a week long crackdown. Of those, 260 were Pakistani and 21 were foreign nationals: 12 Chinese, five Filipino, two Vietnamese, one Malaysian and one Nepali. Twenty of the suspects were women.
Investigators seized 362 mobile phones, 191 computer systems, 74 laptops, 127 other digital devices and 550 SIM cards, which are being examined forensically. The agency said it recovered Rs19.246 million across five cases and 10 inquiries involving JazzCash, Easypaisa and bank accounts.
Among the other cases Ameer described, one suspect was arrested in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura, on the night of 8 October. Cricketer Muhammad Rizwan also submitted his phone for forensic examination, Ameer said.
Ameer also announced arrests in other cases, including three men accused of sharing, uploading or distributing child related objectionable material, and a suspect in Gujranwala who was identified with the help of AI.
Rizvi said ensuring people's digital protection will be a priority. He added that a zero tolerance policy against cybercrime would stay in force, and called protecting people, institutions and digital infrastructure "a national imperative".
A law still to come
The enforcement push comes while the legal framework around cybersecurity is unfinished. On 11 March, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja told a ceremony in Islamabad: "We have a Cyber Security Act coming up, under which a Cyber Security Authority will be established."
For now the defence rests on the National CERT, provincial CERTs and a round the clock National Threat Intelligence System, the bodies she listed in March. She said the national and provincial CERTs had been activated to identify and address cyber incidents as the country's digital footprint grows.
