FAISALABAD: Eighteen people were wounded in an attack on a place of worship belonging to the Ahmadi community in Ghaseet Pura near here, police said on Friday.

The unfortunate incident, which took place in Chak 69-RB on Thursday, began with a quarrel over a petty issue between Ahmadis and Muslims. The worship place was ransacked and some of its items were set on fire following an exchange of gunfire, they added.

The police said that the quarrel erupted after two men, Mudassar and Asim, while riding a motorcycle kicked a rooster — involved in a cockfight — belonging to one Shaheen, a member of the Ahmadi community. Members of the two groups had a heated argument before resorting to violence.

Sources said after the exchange of gunfire a mob attacked the worship place of the Ahmadi community. They said the police reached the spot after a considerable delay.

Cases registered against over 200 people under terrorism charges

The police have registered cases against more than 200 people under terrorism charges and Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common objective), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 324 (attempted murder), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The cases were registered on the complaint of Balochni police SHO Zahid Hussain.

The SHO said after receiving a call on Rescue 15, he with his team reached Ghaseet Pura where scores of people had gathered around a worship place (Bait-ul-zikr). He said people were ransacking the worship place, chanting slogans and pelting the building with stones. He said firing also continued at that time.

The injured were identified as Waqas, Nabeel, Awais, Amjad, Nasir, Tayyab, Shan, Abdul Rehman, Sajid, Mubeen, Ilyas, Murtaza, Shehbaz, Sarfraz, Tahir, Aamir, Waqas and Shaukat. They were taken to different hospitals.

The police found some spent bullet casings at the crime scene.

On being informed about the issue, Regional Police Officer Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, City Police Officer Ashfaq Ahmed and acting deputy commissioner Mehboob Ahmed reached the spot.

After the incident, a heavy police contingent was deployed in the area to prevent any further clash.

A handout issued by the press section of Sadr Anjuman Ahmaddiya Rabwah claimed that 300 to 400 people had attacked the worship place and the house of an Ahmadi. It said the mob also shot at and injured five Ahmadis and ransacked the worship place by putting some of its items on fire.

It said in May another Ahmadi worship place had been demolished in Sialkot and no action had so far been taken against people involved in that attack.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the incident in Faisalabad was the outcome of a dispute over a cockfight between two groups and that it should not be given a religious colour.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2018