ISLAMABAD — Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced on Sunday the arrest of a digital marketing professional allegedly running a massive, Indian-funded misinformation network aimed at spreading anti-state content across Pakistani social media. In a televised address, Tarar revealed that security forces had apprehended the suspect after tracing digital footprints and financial transactions that linked his marketing activities directly to operators in India. The minister accused the individual of using bot farms to artificially amplify hostile narratives targeting the Pakistani government, state institutions, the military, and the Army Chief. According to the state’s investigation, the network deliberately promoted sectarian violence and capitalized on recent regional unrest to destabilize the country.
The federal minister presented screenshots of WhatsApp chats and financial logs detailing micro-transactions, which he explained were intentionally kept small to evade detection by financial monitoring units. Tarar asserted that the government is now aggressively auditing digital payment gateways. Furthermore, the minister claimed the suspect confessed that a significant portion of the anti-state material centered around the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC)—a group recently proscribed by the state following its June 9 protest calls. Tarar argued that this investigation provides “irrefutable evidence” of a nexus between the JAAC and Indian state actors looking to sabotage the Kashmir cause. He concluded that the emergence of such hostile campaigns is a direct reaction by adversaries to Pakistan’s recent global diplomatic successes and its decisive military upper hand during the May 2025 conflict.
