LAHORE: A ruling party politician in Pakistan’s Punjab province is facing criminal prosecution under the nation’s cybercrime laws after a prominent actor accused him of a vicious campaign of digital harassment and blackmail following her refusal of a marriage proposal.
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) formally booked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Saqib Chadhar under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). The case stems from a detailed complaint filed by actor and model Momina Iqbal, who alleges the lawmaker turned abusive and threatening after she declined his advances upon discovering he was already married.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the charges extend beyond Chadhar to include his wife and several associates. The group is accused of subjecting Iqbal, her new husband, and members of her family to a campaign of cyber harassment, unlawful surveillance, and explicit threats.
A Proposal, A Refusal, and Alleged Retaliation
The criminal complaint paints a picture of escalating intimidation. Investigators state that after Iqbal rejected the marriage proposal, Chadhar allegedly weaponized private videos, threatening to leak her personal data if she did not consent to the marriage. The FIR further alleges that Chadhar orchestrated a smear campaign in 2023, levelling false accusations that sabotaged a previous marriage proposal for the actor.
The digital trail led investigators directly to the lawmaker. Threatening messages sent to Iqbal, her spouse, and her sister were traced to a phone number registered to Chadhar. In a critical piece of evidence, the NCCIA recovered the alleged blackmail videos directly from Iqbal’s mobile phone.
Iqbal’s sister, a lawyer by profession, played a pivotal role in the investigation by providing the NCCIA with a video documenting the alleged threats. Authorities have taken both the video and a mobile phone into custody as digital evidence, sending them for a comprehensive forensic audit.
The FIR also raises questions about potential obstruction of justice, alleging that Chadhar deleted critical data and applications from his mobile device before surrendering it to the cybercrime agency.
Prior to the federal cybercrime agency’s intervention, Iqbal had initially approached the Chung Police Station in Lahore seeking an FIR against Chadhar for harassment and death threats. She had reported that the lawmaker used abusive language and issued threats via WhatsApp calls and messages during her wedding preparations. Iqbal tied the knot earlier this week.
