A teenage employee was arrested on Thursday for his alleged involvement in obscene videos being displayed on digital advertising screens in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA), police said.
South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Syed Asad Raza confirmed that an arrest had been made in connection with the incident.
He said police had initially been investigating whether the digital screens were hacked through Wi-Fi or whether the act was carried out by an insider.
The incident came to light on Wednesday evening after multiple reports surfaced on social media alleging that digital advertising boards operated by a private company were displaying explicit visuals for a brief period.
According to the FIR registered at the Gizri police station, obscene videos were intermittently played on February 4 on an SMD screen installed near Ayesha Mosque on Khayaban-e-Ittehad Road. The screen is managed by a private outdoor advertising company. On the complaint of the company’s legal adviser, a case was registered under Section 292 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deals with the sale, distribution or public exhibition of obscene material.
Police said the arrested suspect is a 17-year-old employee of the advertising company. During interrogation, the claim of hacking was found to be false.
The accused said that he was uploading approved advertising content to the SMD screens from his mobile phone using a password-protected Wi-Fi connection when an obscene video stored in his mobile gallery was accidentally selected and played.
He added that the video was removed shortly afterwards.
In his statement, the accused further told police that the company has 10 advertising poles and 20 SMD screens installed, and that the videos sent by the company were saved on his mobile phone for uploading purposes. He maintained that the explicit video was played due to a mistake and not with malicious intent.
