Man accused of blasphemy also booked in separate case
OKARA; Eighteen people were arrested while 134 were booked on Friday for attacking a police station after an alleged blasphemy incident at village Behlolpur. Sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) were added to the case, in which 29 suspects were nominated. Earlier, a man was booked in another FIR on charges of setting the pages of the Holy Quran on fire. As per the first information report (FIR), the complainant was passing through Behlolpur when he saw a village resident allegedly burning the pages of the Holy Quran along a mosque wall. When the alarm was raised, the village men rushed to the site. Hujra police responded quickly, arrested the suspect and registered a case against him. As the news spread, a mob gathered outside the police station and attacked its building. The police had to shift the arrested suspect to a safer place.
As per the second FIR, on Thursday midnight, a mob carrying rods, bricks, stones and weapons gathered outside the police station, chanting slogans against the police. They demanded the handover of the suspect who had allegedly burnt the pages of the Holy Quran. The police assured the mob that the suspect would face the law, but the protesters started throwing stones at the building, breaking its window panes. Contingents from other police stations were called to control the mob. On the report of SHO Farrukh Shahzad, a case was registered against 134 people. Eighteen of them were arrested after their identification through geo-fencing, agency reports and the National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra).
(Daily Dawn)
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