Police in Pakistan’s Punjab detained K.Z.C., a TikTok star, upon a complaint of fraud by Engin Altan Düzyatan, star of popular Turkish TV series "Diriliş: Ertuğrul" ("Resurrection: Ertuğrul").
Düzyatan, a frequent visitor to Pakistan where he enjoys a huge following due to the series, had filed a complaint against the suspect for "gaining illegal benefits by using his name." Düzyatan said in a statement to police that the suspect gave him forged checks for commercial deals they entered into and harmed his public image by using his name and photos without his authorization.
Pakistani police officials said the suspect gave fake checks of 90 million Pakistani rupees (about $0.58 million) to Düzyatan. The suspect already had six criminal complaints against him by other plaintiffs on similar charges. K.Z.C. was detained in Lahore where Düzyatan met him in a well-publicized meeting in 2020 and signed deals for starring in a commercial according to media reports.
"Resurrection: Ertuğrul" earned cult status in Pakistan after state television broadcast a version of it dubbed in Urdu. Within days of the first telecast, the fan following for the series and its actors, especially Düzyatan, surged.
Often described as the Turkish "Game of Thrones," the series is set in the time before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire in 13th century Anatolia. It illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, the father of the empire's first leader. It has passed 10 million subscribers on its Urdu YouTube channel and has around 15 million subscribers globally across all languages, with over 3 billion views.
