SUKKUR, Feb 19: Two churches were set ablaze and at least two people were injured in incidents of arson and violence in the Freek Hill locality here on Sunday during demonstrations against alleged desecration of the Holy Quran.
Police used teargas and fired in the air to disperse an enraged mob that set fire to churches and ransacked the building of a school of the Christian community. The mob forced shopkeepers in the city to pull down shutters.
A group of people occupied Savior’s Church for an hour and set it ablaze. A transformer was also burnt.
Rangers personnel called in to bring the situation under control managed to disperse the crowd.
Several people have been detained on charges of hooliganism and causing damage to public and private property.
Another mob ransacked St Mary’s Church, took out its furniture and set it on fire. They also damaged neon signs and a large number of hoardings in the city. Scores of people were arrested by the police for creating a law and order situation.
When contacted on his
cellphone, the district police officer told this correspondent that he had already informed police authorities about the situation.
The trouble started when one Irfan Gill accused his father-in-law Saleem Gill with whom he had a dispute over property of desecrating the Holy Quran apparently to get him arrested on blasphemy charges.
Irfan told police on Sunday that Saleem Gill’s granddaughter Amna had been reciting the Holy Quran when Mr Gill, a Christian, snatched the holy book from her hands and desecrated it.
Police questioned Saleem Gill, Irfan and other members of the family but during the investigation the accuser failed to prove his allegation. Police suspect that Irfan himself was involved in the act of desecration.
Allah Wasayo Indhar, the imam of the Old Sukkur Mosque, lodged an FIR against Irfan on the charge of desecrating the Holy Quran. Later hundreds of youth took to the streets and went on a rampage in the city.
They later assembled at the C-section police station, pelted it with stones and demanded that the culprits be handed over to them.
