Two college students from Kohat, missing since October, have been formally charged by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for allegedly sharing information about the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan with an Indian hacker, officials and parents have reported.
The FIA's Cyber Crime Wing registered a case against Saim Ali Shah, son of Zulfiqar Ali Shah, and Salal Ali Shah, son of Sajid Ali Shah. The charges were filed in the Rawalpindi circle under Sections 419, 420, 468, and 41 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance (ATO) related to cyber crimes.
On October 13, 2010, a special unit of FIA, Rawalpindi, raided a house in Garhi Banoorian. They took both cousins, along with their computers and CDs, without informing the local police or their parents.
Zulfiqar Ali Shah, speaking to this scribe, explained that his son and nephew had developed an online friendship with an Indian national in August. This individual claimed to have hacked the official website of the Supreme Court (SC) and mocked Pakistani security agencies for their poor safety systems.
"Being immature and unaware of the consequences, our children put their photographs on the hacked official website sent to them by their Indian friend. The SC registrar noticed this and informed the concerned authorities, leading to their arrest from Kohat on October 1," Zulfiqar said.
Salal and Saim, second and third-year students respectively, had recently purchased a new laptop and computer systems. FIA officials confiscated these for investigation. Zulfiqar expressed hope that the court would show leniency, as the children were misled by the Indian hacker.
