QUETTA, Dec 11: Two men were killed and a woman and five others injured in firing in various areas of the city during a protest march held against alleged desecration of the holy Quran here on Wednesday.

According to police, the mob pelted vehicles and shops with stones and torched three motorcycles. Police baton-charged and fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters and arrested over 20 of them in connection with the violence.

“The protest began after pages of the holy Quran were found in crates of pomegranates allegedly brought from Iran to the Hazarganji Fruit and Vegetable Market,” a police official said, adding that an investigation had been launched.

A large number of activists and supporters of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) took to the streets with placards and banners. They marched on various roads and when they reached the main commercial area of Liaquat

Bazaar and Qandhari Bazaar, some people carrying sticks and clubs started ransacking the shops and pelting vehicles with stones.

The unruly protesters blocked roads by burning tyres and placing barriers at Manan Chowk, Mizan Chowk, Liaquat Bazaar, Masjid Road, Prince Road and Satellite Town.

Men on motorcycles opened indiscriminate fire in Liaquat Bazaar and Qandhari Bazaar, injuring six people. One of them, Zainul Abidin, died in Civil Hospital of bullet wounds.

Khali Ahmed Mohmand, who had been attacked in Satellite Town, also died in the hospital.

The Frontier Corps, police and Balochistan Constabulary were called in immediately. Police also fired into the air to disperse the protesters.

The law enforcement agencies stopped the angry protesters from entering the Alamdar Road area, a predominantly Shia Hazara neighbourhood.

The protest crippled life in the panic-stricken city for hours.

The security forces, deployed with armoured vehicles and reserve force, brought the situation under control.

Speaking at a press conference, ASWJ leader Maulana Mohammad Ramazan Mengal urged the government to investigate the incident and suspend diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country from where, he alleged, the fruit crates had been brought.

The Iranian consulate general issued a statement in the night, saying it had initiated an investigation into the desecration of the holy Quran.

“The Consulate General, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Quetta, has contacted Pakistani officials to ascertain the real motives and to provide all information about the incident,” it said, adding that the desecration had been committed by enemies of Islam and this conspiracy had been hatched by non-Muslims. The elements involved in this act who want differences between the two brother and neighbouring Islamic countries of Iran and Pakistan will be exposed soon,” it said.