Assistant Director Asif Iqbal was suspended by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) on Friday for acting as the unofficial spokesperson for the agency.
“Assistant Director Asif Iqbal was suspended and issued an explanation for maintaining a private Twitter account bearing CCW which stands for Cyber Crime Wing. He was acting as the spokesman of the wing on his own accord without permission which is against disciplinary rules,” the agency said in a statement posted on Facebook.
FIA CCW Director Amir Farooqi had issued a notification a day earlier and suspended Muhammad Asif Iqbal with immediate effect.
Reportedly, Iqbal was suspended based on a tweet, in which he shed light on a section of the cybercrime law.
The tweet in question said: “Whoever publicly exhibits false information that harms the reputation of a person, is [committing] a crime U/S 20 of Cybercrime Act.”
This tweet came after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the CCW against Meesha Shafi and eight others for their alleged involvement in a smear campaign against singer-actor Ali Zafar.
The tweet added that those involved in the spread of false information to hurt another person would face three years imprisonment or Rs1 million fine, or both.
