Police in Lahore have detained Farhan Asif, a freelance web developer linked to Channel3Now, over his alleged role in spreading misinformation that fueled race-motivated riots in the UK following a stabbing in Southport, where three young girls were killed.

Asif is accused of copy-pasting false claims from social media that wrongly identified the 17-year-old British-born suspect as an immigrant. This misinformation, originally published by a minor tabloid and later amplified by a UK-based woman, led to violent protests by far-right groups.

Despite Asif’s denial of direct involvement, he has been handed over to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further investigation. His social media accounts have been disabled, and authorities are now calling for a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the matter thoroughly.

Asif issued an apology and deleted the posts, but the disinformation had already gone viral, inciting violence in the UK. Authorities in both Pakistan and the UK continue to investigate the incident’s broader implications.