ISLAMABAD, August 8(ABC): The federal government has formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that will probe the social media campaign launched immediately after a military hilicopter crashed in Balochistan. An officer each from the Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau has been included on the team.
The chopper carrying Quetter Corp Commander Lt General Muhammad Sarfraz and others went down in the Lasbela district during a flood relief operation. All six abroad were martyred.
A troll campaign centered around the crash and targetting a state institution was launched immediately afterward, drawing a strong response from the military spokesperson.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the campaign ‘horrifying’ on Sunday.
“The social media campaign belittling & ridiculing the sacrifices of our martyrs was horrifying. This is what self-righteous political narratives do: they poison the minds of the youth & weaponise hate speech,” he said in a tweet on Sunday.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Sunday announced that it had formed a team to trace and arrest those behind the hate campaign.
On Monday, the federal interior minister announced that it had formed a JIT, which will include officers from various investigation agencies.
A notification issued in this regard said that ISI’s Lt Colonel Saeed, IB’s Waqar Nisar Chaudhry, FIA’s Mohammad Jaffar, Dr Waqarud Din Syed, Ayaz Khan and Imran Haider were on the team.