SAHIWAL, Jan 19: Activists of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat and the Anjuman Tajran, Chichawatni, on Monday demonstrated outside the DPO office in Sahiwal for wrongly implicating Pir Athar Shah in a blasphemy case (PPC 295-A and 295-C) on Jan 17 by the Chichawatni police.

Protesters claimed that the case was registered for celebrating the birth anniversary of Hazrat Ali (RA) some six months ago.

The DPO assured protesters that he would himself discharge the case if the allegations against Pir Ather Shah, president of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, Chichawatni chapter, were proved wrong.

On DPO’s assurance, the protesters, including Jamaat district president Mufti Walayat Iqbal, Anjuman Tajran president Sheikh Chand Tariq, Maulana Ghulam Nabi Masoom and Muhammad Shahid, dispersed peacefully.

The complainant in the case is Mufti Usman, the secretary of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Chichawatni.

Chichawatni police sub-inspector Muhammad Asghar was deputed as investigation officer.

Pir Ather Shah later told Dawn: “It is not a crime to celebrate the birth anniversary of Hazrat Ali (RA)”.