LAHORE: A Pakistani citizen allegedly involved in spreading the false news that sparked anti-immigrant riots in the United Kingdom, was arrested by police in Lahore, confirmed DIG Operations Faisal Kamran on Tuesday.
During the past few weeks, Britain saw widespread riots after false information spread about the identity of the alleged perpetrator of the knife attack that left three minor girls dead on July 29 this year.
During the riots, numerous mosques, asylum centres and immigrant homes were attacked in several cities of Britain.
The UK police authorities sharing an update on X, formerly Twitter on August 14, said that they had arrested over 1,000 people in connection with the riots.
The UK police further said that at least 575 people have been charged and the courts continue to deal with those involved in the unrest.
The Lahore police official said that the suspect identified as Farhan Asif was arrested last night in Lahore’s DHA area and was handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime wing for investigation.
DIG Kamran said that Farhan Asif works for a news platform based in Pakistan, adding that the individual has been charged with spreading “fake news” about the identity of the killer of three children who were stabbed to death.
The police official said that fake news caused violent riots and protests in Britain. The FIA sources told media that Farhan had confessed to interrogators that he had published a story on his news website without knowing that the post would go viral.
