varsity teacher accused of stalking a female employee

ISLAMABAD: A local varsity teacher accused of stalking a female employee of finance department at a local telecommunication company by texting and mailing her vulgar material Friday filed an application to discharge the case which the Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Aslam Gondal rejected and adjourned the case till June 8.

The said victim lodged a First Information Report (FIR) vide 08/09 on 01-04-2009 under section 9/13 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance 2008 with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Project Director, NR3C accusing the varsity teacher of harassing her dated 03-01-2009.

The complainant claimed that some unidentified person had been sending her blank calls. She also complained about receiving threatening and abusing letters and email on his official as well as residential addresses. After receiving the complaint, Cyber Crime Wing FIA Islamabad Zone initiated a probe into the matter.

According to FIA, during the course of enquiry, a detailed record of above mentioned cell number of unknown person making calls to the mobile of the complainant was confirmed.

On tracing the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the mobile phone set used by the accused, it turned out that another mobile phone connection was also being used with a mobile phone set having the same IMEl, which was in the use of Muhammad Tanveer, Assistant Professor, Centre for Advanced Studies in Telecommunication (CAST), COMSATS, Islamabad.

COMSATS University official confirmed that Mr. Tanveer worked as an Assistant Professor in year 2007 to 2010. His research field is Remote Sensing and joins Geographical Information System (GIS) group. Tanveer left the varsity in 2010 and now attached with a private research institute.

The accused Friday filed an application before the competent court stating that the trial had affected his reputation badly and that he repented his crimes. Tanveer said he had been sacked by a private research institute when the administration came to know about the issue. He said he had applied to a foreign research institute and his interview was scheduled in Middle East but could not leave the country unless all the criminal charges were cleared. He also said that the case was lodged in 2009 and still lying for completion of prosecution evidence.

The counsel for the complainant argued that the accused was nominated in FIR and tried to patch up the issue, which the victim refused.

According to the technical report prepared by FIA Forensic Department NR3C, the user of the sending email address on 21-03-2009 belonged to COMSATS University, Chak Shahzad Campus. On completion of the email tracking and tracing through the mobile phone data, FIR-08/2009 dated 01-04-2009 was registered against Muhammad Tanveer, the Assistant Professor.

According to FIA, the accused was arrested on 10-04-2009 and his two-day physical remand was obtained on 11-04-2009 that was extended to tow more days. After his physical-remand the accused was sent on judicial remand and was granted bail in November 2010.

During the course of interrogation, the accused accepted and confessed that he sent vulgar, indecent, and obnoxious e-mails by using a specific address. Muhammad Tanveer provided the password of the email address to the FIA that was immediately changed by the undersigned. The mobile phone SIM that was used to make calls and sending SMS messages to the complainant was also recovered from the accused. The equipment seized after obtaining the orders from the competent court included 2 computers, 14-CDs, a USB flash drive, and a mobile phone set.

Subsequently, the court rejected the application to dispose of the case and adjourned it till June 8.Daily times