55 arrested after scuffle in jirga

MANSEHRA: The police on Saturday arrested 55 people from two groups on the charges of attacking each other with batons and stones during a jirga at a police station.

The jirga was held to decide whether or not to remove the prayer leader of a local mosque.

One of the two groups led by Malik Arshad wanted to remove the prayer leader of a local mosque in the Khaki area while another group, headed by one Malik Pervez, was opposing it. Station House Officer Asim Bukhari had called both the groups to the Khaki Police Station to settle the dispute when they exchanged harsh words and attacked each other with sticks and stones. “We have arrested all 55 accused, who attacked each other as we cannot allow anybody to take the law into their own hands,” Bukhari told reporters. He said that Malik Arshad group wanted to remove the prayer leader of the mosque. The police lodged the first information report under sections 506/147 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and arrested all jirga members.