ISLAMABAD: Inter Services-Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers joined team investigating the hate campaign on social media against martyrs in Balochistan’s Lasbela helicopter crash. A notification issued by Ministry of Home Affairs announced that a six-member team is to be constituted by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). FIA had opened an investigation into spread of negative propaganda on social media, hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had warned against a “self-righteous political narrative” that weaponised hate speech. Deputy Director Waqar Nisar from IB and Lieutenant Colonel Saad from ISI are now part of joint inquiry team of FIA. Intelligence agencies will probe matter under supervision of Additional Director Cybercrime FIA Muhammad Jafar. Team includes FIA director, FIA Cyber Crime Wing Waqaruddin Syed, Additional Director Cybercrime Ayyaz Khan and Assistant Director Imran Haider. Purpose of team will be to investigate where negative trend initiated from and individuals involved in running hate campaign against Pakistan Army martyrs. Following probe, team will take legal action against culprits.

This comes amid an ongoing online smear campaign stoking speculations that helicopter crash was “orchestrated” through conspiracy by country’s security establishment. Conspiracy theory fell on fertile ground after similar allegations echoed from certain political activists who fumed against military. Earlier, ISPR also condemned negative propaganda, saying that it had hurt sentiments of families of martyrs.