Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received an application to lodge a case against social activist and blogger Prof Salman Haider for allegedly spreading blasphemous content on social media.

No case has so far been registered against Prof Salman Haider, the FIA clarified in a statement released on Wednesday, adding that the case would be lodged after a comprehensive evaluation of the application submitted by Hafiz Ahtasham Ahmed of the Shuhada Foundation.

According to the sources privy to the matter, Hafiz Ahtasham Ahmed submitted an application with the FIA station in Iqbal Town, stating that the FIA should act against the blogger for allegedly spreading blasphemous content on the social media under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

According to FIA Deputy Director Noman Asharraf, legal opinion was being sought from the legal branch regarding invoking Section 295-C and other laws against the blogger.

Sources said that the FIA had barred the professor from flying abroad until the final decision was made on the application.

Earlier, an application for registering a blasphemy case against four missing activists, including Salman Haider, under Section 295-C was also filed in the Industrial Area Police Station, which was forwarded to the legal branch of the Capital Territory Police to check whether the matter comes under the legal jurisdiction of the police.

It is worth mentioning here that the police investigation team had paid a visit to the residence of Prof Haider to record his statements about him going missing, but they were told by his family that the professor was not feeling good and the physicians had advised him to take complete bed rest.

Sources in the police said that as soon as the ailing professor gets better, initial statements would be recorded.

Professor Salman Haider is a social activist and blogger who had gone missing from the capital earlier this month but returned home on January 28.