Swabi Press Club Vice President Mohammad Ayub Khan, also a reporter for Hum News, received a notice from the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Wing in Peshawar regarding an alleged offensive social media post. He told Dawn that he would “soon visit” the FIA office after receiving the notice of attendance from the office of the deputy director cybercrime centre.
Separately, Khan also received a defamation notice from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority (KPHA) over a video he posted on social media that allegedly depicted substandard construction of the Badri Bridge on Swabi-Jehangira Road.
The notice, dated March 17, accused Khan of posting a “false, misleading and defamatory” video on social media which “deliberately maligned and misrepresented” the construction status of the Badri Bridge (locally referred to as Kalla Pul) on the Swabi–Jehangira Road in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Khan posted videos on his Facebook account on March 2 and 5, in which he highlighted cracks, unpaved sections, and alleged the use of low-quality materials in the construction of the bridge. The bridge, a key infrastructure project reportedly initiated by former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, was inaugurated on February 28 and opened to traffic on March 20.
In its legal notice, the PKHA stated: “Your baseless claims about alleged ditches and substandard construction have misled the public, incited unwarranted criticism, and caused severe reputational harm to PKHA.”
The authority further alleged that Khan acted irresponsibly. “Despite having no technical knowledge or expertise in engineering practices, you recklessly and irresponsibly uploaded and circulated a defamatory video with the malicious intent of discrediting the authority.”
They said the bridge had been completed except for the installation of expansion joints, for which they were waiting for suitable weather conditions.
The PKHA stated that the “irresponsible, ill-informed and defamatory” act by Ayub Khan was in “grave violation” of the Defamation Ordinance 2002. They demanded that Ayub Khan immediately remove the video from all social media platforms where it was uploaded and circulated. They further instructed him to issue a formal and unconditional public apology, explicitly acknowledging the alleged false claims and the reputational damage caused to the authority. Additionally, the notice directed Khan to cease and desist from making any further statements — whether verbal, written, or through any medium — regarding the Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority or its projects.
The notice warned that failure to comply within seven days would result in defamation and criminal proceedings.
Ayub Khan rejected the accusations: “I did nothing wrong, and such threats could not stop me from performing my professional duty,” reported Dawn.
