News Desk
The News Desk provides timely and factual coverage of national and international events, with an emphasis on accuracy and clarity.
An online graphic alleging an Attaullah Tarar fake statement is completely fabricated, iVerify Pakistan confirmed on Monday.
Social media accounts circulating the viral image since July 3 falsely claimed the information minister defended the grandson of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar in a recent high-profile criminal case.
How did investigators debunk the Attaullah Tarar fake statement?
iVerify Pakistan debunked the Attaullah Tarar fake statement by tracing its original barcode back to an authentic May 2025 news broadcast. Forensic analysis revealed that online actors doctored the typography and font of a legitimate ARY News graphic to create the rumor. No credible national media outlets have reported any matching comments.
Picture Courtesy: iVerify Pakistan
The viral online rumor started gaining significant traction when various opposition accounts uploaded the altered visual graphic across the X and Facebook platforms.
The fabricated quote falsely showed Tarar trivializing severe sexual assault charges by claiming that such juvenile mistakes frequently happen during early youth. The misleading upload quickly gathered over 42,400 individual views before digital forensics teams stepped in to officially verify the original template.
The technical verification process matched the underlying digital barcode on the viral image to an authentic news card broadcast by media outlets in 2025.
The original broadcast featured a political talk show clip where the minister was debating national patriotism with political rival Omar Ayub. Graphic designers altered the text font size and typography style to superimpose the fake narrative over the legitimate media broadcast background.
The underlying criminal case involves severe legal charges registered under a first information report filed at the Defence C Police Station.
On July 2, two foreign nationals from the Netherlands detailed a multi-day ordeal involving targeted abduction, million-dollar extortion, and physical abuse. Local law enforcement personnel successfully rescued both women before booking five individual suspects over the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault offences.
What are the details of the criminal case involving the foreign nationals?
Police authorities confirmed the formal arrest of four key suspects who were subsequently sent on a five-day physical remand by the courts. Investigators revealed that one of the detained individuals is a close family relative of a prominent national political personality in the country. The primary complainant voluntarily recorded her detailed legal testimony under Section 164 of the local Code of Criminal Procedure to advance the trial.
The ongoing judicial case contains serious statutory offences defined under multiple sections of the overarching Pakistan Penal Code framework.
The formal investigation involves specific sections regulating unlawful kidnapping for financial extortion alongside severe definitions of criminal sexual assault. Federal ministries have vowed to manage the investigation transparently to counter the ongoing spread of online propaganda regarding the legal proceedings.
On July 5, Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran said that one of the suspects, identified as Mohammad Raza Dar, was believed to have links with the deputy prime minister. However, no credible source or official has identified the suspect as a grandson of FM Dar.
*This article is by iVerify Pakistan
Comments
See what people are discussing