YouTuber Saadur Rehman, popularly known as Ducky Bhai, will remain in the custody of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for two more days after a judicial magistrate in Lahore awarded the agency an extension in his physical remand on Monday.
He is accused of promoting illegal gambling applications on his YouTube channel and was arrested at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport on August 17 while trying to leave the country.
The case against him was registered by the state through the NCCIA Lahore under sections 13 (Electronic Forgery), 14 (Electronic Fraud), 25 (Spamming) and 26 (Spoofing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 as well as sections 294 B (Offering prize in connection with trade) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducting delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The case is related to an inquiry dated June 13 and registered on the “receipt of information from reliable source(s)” that some YouTubers and social media influencers were promoting gambling and betting applications to the general public via their social media accounts for their own monetary benefits.
The FIR claimed that the public invested their hard-earned money in these applications and suffered financial losses. It accused Ducky Bhai of promoting different gambling and betting applications, including 1xBet, Bet 365, B9 Game and Binomo — for which he is charged with acting as country manager — through his YouTube channel.
Monday’s hearing in the court of Magistrate Muhammad Naeem Wattoo came after the completion of the YouTuber’s four-day remand, which had been granted on August 28. The investigating officer requested an extension, citing a forensic analysis report of the electronic devices seized from Ducky Bhai’s possession. The officer said there were several chats on the suspect’s device relating to the promotion of gambling apps, alongside evidence of foreign transactions.
Ducky Bhai’s lawyer, Advocate Chaudhry Usman Ali, asked the court not to grant an extension in his client’s remand, saying the details of banking transactions can be obtained without keeping the accused in custody. He also argued that the NCCIA had yet to present any evidence proving that the YouTuber was the country manager for Binomo or that the companies he promoted caused financial losses to their users.
Directing the agency to conclude the investigation, the court granted the agency a two-day extension in Rehman’s remand and asked the NCCIA to present the accused in court on September 3.
