GUJRAT: The violence that erupted in Jhelum, apparently following a “desecration” incident in a factory, might have been planned by perpetrators with ulterior motives.

This is an important angle being considered by the cabinet committee constituted by the Punjab chief minister, as well as the investigators of police and other law enforcement agencies (LEAs) probing into the torching of a factory belonging to a member of Ahmadi community and attack on its worship place on last Friday and Saturday.

The investigators have been looking into the possibility of a sabotage plan behind the incidents in Jhelum that might have been prepared by some local miscreants in connivance with some factory workers.

More than 40 suspects have already been taken into custody by the LEAs during a crackdown launched late on Sunday night in Kala Gojaran area of the town.

Jhelum District Coordination Officer Zulfiqar Ahmed Ghuman told Dawn by telephone that now when normalcy had returned to the town, the focus of local authorities and investigators was on finding out the actual motive behind the violence and its perpetrators. He said army had been withdrawn from the district after agitation subsided.

He said the LEAs had taken some suspects into custody for investigation, besides inspecting the scrap and other material that was being used as fuel for the boiler of the factory.

The DCO said the bags of scrap fuel recovered by police from the torched factory also contained the Ahmadi community’s magazine Al-Fazal which were also being burnt along with other items to run the boiler. However, he said, the matter of alleged use of pages of the Holy Quran as fuel was still under investigation.

Another official said there was enough ground to probe into the possibility of planned sabotage in the incident. Elaborating, he said that for instance why the workers chose

Friday to raise the issue and that too soon after the Friday prayers. He said the timing resulted in gathering of thousand people on the spot in no time.

The video clip the complainants had produced along with their application against the factory management seemed to be made a few days before the violence despite the fact that the factory workers were not allowed to bring their cell phones to their workplace, added the official.

Sources said the committee constituted by the CM and being headed by Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, with Inspector General of Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera and Home Secretary Suleman Azam as its members would submit its report separately.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015