Dozens arrested for torching Charsadda police station

CHARSADDA: Dozens of protesters were arrested for damaging and torching a police station in Mandani area during a protest against the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at the hands of a mentally retarded person.

A mentally unstable person was alleged to have desecrated the Holy Quran in Mandani area in Charsadda district on Sunday. The alleged desecration triggered a violent protest and an angry mob overran a police station building in order to grab the accused from police custody and subject him to lynching.

Though the police had arrested the man said to be mentally ill, the angry villagers took the law into their own hands and attacked the police station to get hold of the accused. The mob attack and subsequent protest prompted the cops to use teargas shells and fire warning shots to disperse the violent crowd. On Monday morning the charged crowd gathered outside the building of the police station in Mandani. They were asking the police to hand over the accused to them.

Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Mardan Rage, Yasin Farooq, visited the Mandani area to take stock of the prevailing situation. The DIG met Member Provincial Assembly Khalid Khan, Haji Danishmand Khan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and other local elders to seek their help in bringing the situation under control. Also, a noted religious scholar Mufti Abdullah Shah, Mufti Abdul Rauf Shakir and former Member National Assembly Maulana Syed Gohar Shah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl appealed to the people not to damage public property.

They argued that the accused had been arrested and would be punished in accordance with the law. The religious scholars urged the people to appear before the court to present evidence and give testimony to get the accused punished as per the law of the land. They said that damaging and attacking government installations and challenging the writ of the state would serve no purpose.