FAISALABAD, March 3 After four days of deliberations, the police have registered a single case of three incidents -- firing on an Eid-i-Milad procession, torching of the Gol Masjid prayer leader's house, and setting fire to a police station and vehicles — at Ghulam Mohammadabad. They have taken into custody more than three dozen people in the last two days.

The case has been instituted against hundreds of arsonists, seventy-two of them (including Sunni Tehrik divisional coordinator Nasir Nakshbandi and seminary head Hidayat Shah Rasool) nominated ones.

However, the group which took out the procession claimed that the police had arrested their 200 activists and were raiding seminaries and residences of their clerics.

The Ghulam Mohammadabad police registered a case (243/10) on March 2, however, the date on the FIR is mentioned Feb 27 last when the incidents took place. The complaints for registration of cases were not being entertained at the police station for the last few days on the orders of police officials.

SHO Nasrullah Chattha is the applicant of the case registered in back date that covered two different incidents, that is, torching of police station and the house of Gol Masjid Khateeb Zahid Qasmi under section 148, 149, 186, 324, 353, 395, 436, 440, 448 and 511 of PPC. The police have also nominated Council of Loom Owners chairman Waheed Khaliq Ramay in the case, who was asked by the police officials to help control the mob that attacked the police station. However, the FIR shows Mr Ramay has been booked on the charge of setting the house of Mr Qasmi ablaze and looting the valuables.

Sources said an SP and Mr Ramay had exchanged a word some two months ago when powerloom owners were protesting against the shortage of yarn.

Mr Nakshbandi said the police had arrested more than 200 activists of the Sunni Tehrik. He alleged that a provincial minister of Faisalabad had been favouring the group the members of which opened fire on the procession and it's a great injustice.

The FIR has been divided into three portions; the first carries the detail of ransacking of the police station and torching of parked vehicles, the second focuses on looting and torching of Mr Qasmi's house, and the last section covers the firing on the procession.

Thirty arsonists have been named for ransacking the police station and forty-two for looting and torching of Mr Qasmi's place. As for the procession, only one name, Yasir alias Guddo who opened fire on the procession and injured Ayub, Sabir, Amanat and Naeem, has been mentioned.

Sources said the police were left with no option but to merge the three incidents as neither the Gol Masjid group nor the procession organisers were ready to submit applications for registration of a case, though IGP Tariq Saleem Dogar asked them to do so.

They said the district administration and the police held more than seven meetings with both groups to convince them of the importance of case registration to bring the culprits to book, but all in vain.

Mr Naqshbandi said office-bearers of the Sunni Ittehad Council would visit Faisalabad on Thursday (today) and address a press conference to give out future course of action.

Gulberg DSP Khurram Shahzad said only 13 arsonists had been taken into custody and sent on judicial remand. He said raids were being conducted to net the remaining suspects.