File photo. Munir uz Zaman—AFP
Law enforcement personnel in Hyderabad on Sunday prevented a potential lynching by dispersing a violent mob that had sought access to a detained Hindu sanitary worker who has been accused of blasphemy.
According to local media, police and paramilitary Rangers alike resorted to aerial firing and tear gas in various parts of the Sindh city to disperse the mob that has assembled following the alleged desecration of the holy Quran. Police said they had detained the suspect on the complaint of a local shopkeeper and charged him under Sections 295-B and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, the complainant alleged that he had learnt of someone burning pages of the holy Quran and upon inquiry had found this to be true.
He said that he had inquired after the identity of the person who had set fire to the Quran, but had not been able to verify who it was. Securing the burnt pages and the sanitary worker, who had been in the same vicinity, he said he had handed over the accused and the “evidence” to the police.
Following his arrest, a large mob gathered and tried to drag the accused out of the apartment he had been located in. The mob assaulted a policeman and damaged a police mobile, while also breaking the windows of the building in a bid to target the accused with violence. In a bid to disperse it, a large contingent of the Rangers and police resorted to baton-charging, aerial firing and tear gas.
Speaking with media, a local police official said they would ensure an investigation determined the real culprit and punished them under law. He also urged people to avoid taking the law into their own hands, or causing harm to the lives and property of people.