NCCIA issued notice on Ducky Bhai's appeal against his physical remand

YouTuber Saadur Rehman, better known as Ducky Bhai, has filed an appeal against a judicial magistrate’s decision to extend his physical remand in a case pertaining to alleged promotion of illegal online gambling applications.

The appeal, moved through his counsel on Saturday, was admitted by a sessions court, which issued a notice to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and directed the agency to submit its reply by Monday.

In his petition, the YouTuber argued that the magistrate had not properly assessed the facts before approving the NCCIA’s request for extended custody, and urged the court to declare the order void.

Ducky Bhai has been in the agency’s custody since his arrest at Lahore airport on August 17.

On August 28, a judicial magistrate extended his physical remand until September 1.

He has been booked under multiple provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, including electronic forgery, fraud, spamming and spoofing, along with sections of the Pakistan Penal Code related to cheating and promoting prize schemes.

Also Read: NCCIA gets Ducky Bhai's custody for another four days in promotion of gambling apps case

According to the prosecution, the case stems from a June 13 inquiry launched on “credible information” that YouTubers and social media influencers were advertising gambling and betting apps to earn financial benefits.

Meanwhile, the sessions court has extended pre-arrest bail for the YouTuber’s wife, Aroob Jatoi, until September 15, and barred the NCCIA from detaining her in the same case. She had approached the court after receiving an inquiry notice, expressing fear of arrest.

In her plea, Jatoi said she was willing to cooperate with investigators and appear for questioning. This is her second bail application; she was first granted protective bail on August 21, after which she appeared before the agency.