LAHORE, Aug 10: The Punjab government has put Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed under house arrest for one month at his house, two days ahead of a public meeting he was scheduled to address in the city.

“We have orders from the government to detain the Dawa leader,” city police chief Additional IG Khwaja Khalid Farooq told Dawn. He said Mr Saeed had been detained at his house for one month.

Police sources said Jamaatut Dawa had planned to hold the public meeting on Aug 12 at Minar-i-Pakistan in connection with the Independence Day.

However, the government had not granted permission for the meeting for, what a source said, fear of any law and order situation.

He added the government would not like to see any gathering of religious groups in the backdrop of the ongoing situation in Lebanon and its emotional affects on Muslims. “Any such gathering could turn violent.”

The police cordoned off the house of the Dawa leader in Jauhar Town and woman police were also deployed inside the house.

The police also handed over the detention orders to Dawa leader, asking him not to make any attempt to leave his house.