ISLAMABAD, April 14: The police on Saturday took into custody five persons including three students of Lal Masjid from a market in Bhara Kahu where a video and CD shop was reportedly set on fire.

The police said the five persons were taken into custody from Sarafa Market at Nai Abadi and a video camera was recovered from their possession. A van bearing Peshawar registration number (3868) and belonging to Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia was also impounded.

The police said they took the action on the suspicion that these persons might have set the shop on fire. The accused were identified as Zainullah, 16, a resident of Mardan; Mehrab Hassan, 21, hailing from Chitral; Mohammad Idrees, a resident of Charsadda, and Imran and Ahmad Tasawwar, residents of Nai Abadi in Bhara Kahu.

Till the filing of this report, the police were interrogating the suspects about their presence in the market. The police said a case might be registered against them.

Earlier, cassettes and CDs from the Al-Awan shop owned by Mohammad Arif were taken out and dumped in the open and then set on fire.

The police after knowing about the incident rushed to the spot, however, the material were destroyed before their arrival.

The police quoted Mr Arif as saying that he himself had burnt the cassettes and CDs on religious grounds. The police later asked him to come to the police station for further legal process. The police were of the view that there was a possibility that the incident had occurred due to some threat or pressure.

The police asked other shopkeepers about the presence of any suspicious people in the market but none of them was aware of anything.

Earlier, a news spread in the capital that some veil-wearing women along with some males had raided at the market and burnt a video and CD shop. However, it turned out to be a rumour, the police said.

When contacted, Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, the naib Khateeb of Lal Masjid, said the police had picked up the three persons of the mosque only because they were present in the market at the time of the incident.