CHITRAL: An apparently deranged man on Fri­day made remarks considered blasphemous by other worshippers at a mosque, stoking riots in Chitral after Friday prayers as an enraged mob tried to ransack the police station where he was confined after his arrest.

Tear gas shells were fired to disperse the mob, estimated at between 2,000 and 3,000, which wanted the police to hand him over to them.

The delusional man from a nearby village — who was deported from Abu Dhabi over mental health issues last year — first created a scene in a mosque, but the prayer leader managed to calm him down with the help of villagers and turned him in to the police.

People started converging on the police station as word spread about the man’s remarks.

The commandant of Chit­ral Scouts and district nazim Maghfirat Shah rushed to the place and tried to pacify the protesters, but to no avail. Police sides were in a standoff when this report was filed. Police said they had arrested the man and booked him under Section 295-C (Use of derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet)of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2017