Naqvi Vows to Strengthen NCCIA as Cybercrime Cases Mount

• Suggested slug: naqvi-strengthen-nccia-cybercrime-punjab-october-2026
• Category: National News
• Focus keyphrase: NCCIA Punjab cybercrime cases
• SEO title: Naqvi Vows to Strengthen NCCIA as Cybercrime Cases Mount
• Meta description: Naqvi says the NCCIA has only 61 staff in Punjab, with officers handling up to 4,000 cases each; dedicated cyber police stations are planned.
• Tags: NCCIA, Mohsin Naqvi, cybercrime, Punjab, online fraud, cyber harassment, call centres, FIR
• Original element: own data point — places the pledge against the agency’s actual recent workload, cross-referenced with Feature Pakistan’s own NCCIA coverage this week: tonight’s child-abuse-material gang arrests, the Oct 22 TikTok visa-fraud arrest and the Oct 23 ten-year conviction for blackmailing a minor
• Date: Friday, 2026-10-23

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday pledged to strengthen the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), revealing that it had only 61 personnel across Punjab, a province of around 140 million people, as investigators struggled with a growing backlog of cases involving online fraud, harassment and blackmail.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, Naqvi said he would raise the agency’s staffing and resource shortages with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adding that the government was working to improve its capacity to respond to complaints and investigate cybercrime.

“How can they possibly work?”

“An investigating officer has 3,000 to 4,000 cases. How can they possibly work?” Naqvi asked, pointing out that investigators had to attend court hearings, hear complainants, prepare challans and conduct investigations. “If this is the situation in Lahore, the situation in Multan and other areas is much worse,” he said, adding that he would take up the issue with the prime minister in the coming days.

The government planned to strengthen the agency by increasing its personnel and resources, opening more offices and establishing dedicated police stations. Plans were being developed to set up NCCIA police stations across the country, with the arrangements expected to be finalised within 10 to 15 days, he added.

A week of heavy caseload

The pledge comes at the end of a week in which the NCCIA has handled some of its most sensitive cases. Earlier on Friday, the agency arrested four suspects in Islamabad over an international child sexual abuse material trafficking ring, recovering dozens of objectionable videos involving children aged 6 to 14 who had been lured through Instagram.

Earlier this week, an Islamabad court sentenced two men to 10 years in prison for blackmailing a 12-year-old girl with objectionable photos in an NCCIA case, while another suspect was arrested in Faisalabad for an alleged Saudi visa fraud run through TikTok.

Naqvi praised the NCCIA for conducting operations despite its limited staffing, stressing that its personnel needed greater institutional support to handle the scale of cybercrime complaints.

Victims who cannot wait

Naqvi stressed that some complaints required an immediate response, particularly cases involving the online harassment and blackmail of women and girls. “There are some sensitive cases in which you cannot wait months, weeks or even days. You have to respond within hours,” he said.

The minister recounted meeting several women who had attempted suicide after facing harassment, describing their experiences as a stark reminder of the urgency of improving the agency’s response.

He also highlighted delays arising from existing legal procedures. Under the current law, the NCCIA was required to issue three notices before registering a first information report (FIR), a requirement that could delay action in sensitive cases. “If a girl is facing harassment, and there have been cases in which girls have attempted suicide, we have to respond differently in such cases,” he said.

Call-centre crackdown and fraud warnings

Turning to enforcement, Naqvi announced that around 600 people had been arrested during operations against call centres over the preceding 10 to 12 days. He said the government would also work to improve coordination with banks in cases involving fraudulent transfers, arguing that the NCCIA needed stronger powers to identify and freeze accounts receiving money obtained through fraud.

Some powers available to the Federal Investigation Agency, including those relating to bank accounts, were not available to the NCCIA, he added.

He also stressed the importance of awareness in tackling financial fraud, with scammers impersonating relatives or pretending to be ill to persuade people to transfer money. “Some people ask for money by pretending to be a relative, while others pretend to be ill and ask for money,” he said. The amounts involved ranged from Rs10,000 to millions of rupees, he added.

He urged women and girls to exercise caution when sharing personal photographs and videos online. “I would request mothers, sisters and daughters not to share any personal photographs with anyone,” he said, cautioning that offenders could use such material to blackmail victims.

No leniency for government employees

The minister also referred to the arrest of a government employee in a harassment-related case, maintaining that the authorities should proceed if the allegations were established. “There is no exemption for a government employee in a harassment case. If it is proven, there should be no leniency, regardless of who the person is,” he said.

He added that the authorities were working to address fake social media accounts and other forms of online abuse through coordination with relevant agencies. He said Pakistan was cooperating with other countries to investigate cybercrime, with discussions under way daily with embassies and police liaison officers.

The government would continue to strengthen the NCCIA’s staffing, resources and operational capacity while expanding public awareness campaigns to curb online fraud, harassment and blackmail, Naqvi concluded.