Claim: An image shows Raza Dar posing next to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar.
Fact: The claim is false. The person standing next to Nawaz Sharif in the image is not Raza Dar, but Deputy PM Ishaq Dar’s son, Hasnain Dar.
On 4 July 2026, X user Arsalan Baloch posted an image, with the Urdu caption:
ملزم رضا ڈار نے اپنی تصویر ایک سابق وزیراعظم کے ساتھ لگا رکھی تھی:))
[Translation: “Raza Dar had posted a picture of himself with a former Prime Minister:))”]
Screenshot from X post
Kidnapping case of two foreign women in Lahore
On 2 July, the Lahore police registered a case against five people suspected of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two foreign women. The FIR available with Soch Fact Check lists section 365A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property, valuable security, etc) and 375A (gang rape). It mentioned a man named Muhammad Raza Dar, another person the women referred to as the “boss”, and three other men.
A copy of the FIR obtained by Soch Fact Check
The FIR stated that the two women named Stephanie and Astrid, a Dutch and a Venezuelan national respectively, first met Dar in Singapore in October 2025. According to Stephanie’s statement cited in a report by Dawn, he invited them to Pakistan and arranged their visas under the pretence of introducing them to new investors for her company. Soch Fact Check also obtained her original statement to the judicial magistrate in which she stated that she and Astrid arrived in Islamabad on 26 June and spent three days at a hotel.
An excerpt from Stephanie’s statement to the judicial magistrate on 2 July 2026
An excerpt from Stephanie’s statement to the judicial magistrate on 2 July 2026
In her statement, Stephanie added that they travelled to Lahore with Dar on 29 June 2026 where he lured them into a house under the pretext of celebrating a relative’s birthday. However, they found the residence empty. She added that within fifteen minutes, four armed men stormed inside and tied up both the women, after which they demanded high amounts of ransom. She stated that Dar initially pretended to be a victim too but later his complicity with the armed men had become evident.
According to the Dawn report, she accused the kidnappers of demanding $2 million and electronically transferring $17,000 in cryptocurrency from her accounts. She also detailed an account of sexual assault that took place on 30 June which was confirmed by medical reports issued on 6 July after the DNA of three of the suspects matched.
DIG Lahore Muhammad Faisal Kamran said in a press briefing that the FIR was registered after a man named Carlos, the father of one of the women, called the emergency helpline “15” from Spain and alerted the Defence assistant superintendent of police (ASP) about the situation.
Kamran added that the victims were rescued after the car transporting them to another location crashed into another vehicle which gave them the opportunity to escape and seek shelter in a shop near Bhatta Chowk. After being rescued, they departed from the country on 3 July, he added.
DIG Kamran also confirmed that when his team was trying to trace the suspects, they spoke to a few people living in the raided houses who informed them that the place was previously rented out by the relatives of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. A police official then identified one of the suspects as Muhammad Raza Dar after confirming the information from his family.
Dawn quoted police officials investigating the case claiming that a total of eight suspects have been arrested in the case, including someone the victims referred to as the “boss” who was providing instructions to the other men via a phone call, as described in the FIR.
On 3 July, the judicial magistrate at Cantt Courts in Lahore issued a remand order, a copy of which is available with Soch Fact Check, that approved a five-day physical remand for Ahmad Raza, Sikandar Aziz Khan, Hassan Raza and Sajid Ali. Later, on 13 July, the court extended their remand by four more days.
Remand order approved by the judicial magistrate in Cantt Court on 3 July
On 5 July 2026, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah appeared on Geo News’ show ‘Naya Pakistan’ and stated that Deputy PM Ishaq Dar is being dragged in this matter “unnecessarily.”
“A non-issue is being turned into an issue. This matter is being stretched from left and right to create an effect for him [Ishaq Dar]. Even if his [Dar’s] relative is involved, no matter how close they are, he [Dar] is not responsible for his [Raza] words and actions,” Sanaullah stated.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check ran a reverse-image search on this image to find its origins and the true identity of the man on the left of the frame. The picture was first posted by Ali Dar, Chief Minister of Punjab for Artificial Intelligence and Special Initiatives on X on 3 March 2024, tagging all 3 people present in the picture.
The image was found to be posted by The search results confirmed that the man in question is Hasnain Dar, son of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. This was established through a review of Hasnain Dar’s X account, where the images posted mention Ishaq Dar as his father.
Soch Fact Check also found a Geo News video showing Nawaz Sharif meeting several of Ishaq Dar’s family members. Towards the 1:34 mark, Hasnain Dar can be seen in a group photo. This video dates back to 19 October 2023, and is captioned “Nawaz Sharif reached the house of Ali Dar and Hasnain Dar, sons of Ishaq Dar, in Dubai.” It is clear that the image being fact-checked also shows Hasnain Dar.
Side-by-side comparison of Hasnain Dar in the image being fact-checked (left) and in the Geo News clip (on the right hand side)
Intelligence Online, a French publication published an article on 6 April 2023, which states Hasnain Dar and Ali Mustafa Dar to be Ishaq Dar sons and includes similar pictures circulating on social media. The picture seen in the article was also posted by Ali Dar, seen on his X account on 27 September 2022.
Image obtained from Intelligence Online
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes the image in the claim does not show Muhammad Raza Dar. In fact, based on publicly available information, the person in question can be identified as Hasnain Dar, who is the son of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.
Virality
This image was shared the most on Facebook, with the highest number of likes at 2.1K.
Pakistani users shared the misinformation on X as well where the most popular post gained 128.7K views.
Conclusion: The claim is false. The person standing next to Nawaz Sharif in the image in question is not Raza Dar but Deputy PM Ishaq Dar’s son, Hasnain Dar.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com