BANNU: The local police on Monday arrested three persons, including two clerics, under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance for sharing an ‘irresponsible’ poem recited by them on social media.

On Sunday, a video had gone viral on social media wherein two of the arrested persons, Maulvi Abdul Jaleel and Bilal Khan, were seen reciting a poem terming the coronavirus pandemic a joke and asking the general public not to adopt any precautionary measures against it.

Bannu deputy commissioner Mohammad Zubair Niazi had issued their arrest orders under sections 13, 14 and 16 of MPO.

The police arrested both the clerics and the owner of a local recording studio, Mir Hamza.

The deputy commissioner and district police officer Yasir Afridi said that the suspects were involved in negative propaganda against the pandemic, thus creating unrest in the society.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2020