PESHAWAR, July 11: A compromise was reached on Sunday night between the Muslim and Hindu inhabitants of Nowshera Cantonment over the issues of ransacking of a Balmeek temple and alleged desecration of the Holy Quran a few days back. Representatives of both the groups condemned the ransacking of the LambaVera temple and desecration of the Holy Quran, stating that those were extremely unfortunate incidents. The representatives of both sides forgave each other and requested the police not to arrest any more persons in the temple case.

The police have till now arrested 17 people on the charges of attacking the Balmeek temple on the night of June 28 for avenging the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by a person earlier that day.

The accused charged with desecration of the Holy Quran, Yousaf Masih, was booked under section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), whereas the persons who had allegedly attacked the temple were booked under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and section 295-A, 148 and 149 of the PPC.

Despite the agreement, the accused were not released as section 7 of the ATA is not a compoundable offence and it is now up to the Anti-Terrorism Court to decide whether to release them on bail.