The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued notices to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on a petition filed by YouTuber Saadur Rehman aka Ducky Bhai, seeking bail in the gambling apps promotion case against him.

According to reports, Justice Farooq Haider heard the plea that said NCCIA officials arrested him from Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport on August 17 while he was leaving the country for an event.

He, however, had not received any notice to appear before the agency for questioning prior to the arrest, stated the plea submitted by his legal team after his earlier bail pleas were dismissed.

According to the petition, Ducky Bhai remained in the agency’s custody for 22 days after his arrest, and both a judicial magistrate and an additional sessions judge rejected his bail pleas in September and October. It also said that two others arrested with him, Subhan Sharif and Asad Nadeem Mughal, were later released.

Hearing the petition, Justice Haider directed the NCCIA to submit its response in the case.

It may be noted that the case against Ducky Bhai was registered under sections 13 (electronic forgery), 14 (electronic fraud), 25 (spamming) and 26 (spoofing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016. It also includes sections 294-B (offering prize in connection with trade) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The FIR claimed that the public lost their money after investing in gambling and betting applications promoted on Ducky’s YouTube channel.

It alleged that he promoted platforms such as 1xBet, Bet365, B9 Game and Binomo, and even acted as a country manager for one of them.