SWAT: The police arrested an Afghan national on blasphemy charge in Rega village of Sawari area in Buner district on Monday.

The local police said the 27-year-old accused, who was a nanbai, had been shifted to an unidentified location for investigation after the registration of an FIR against him.

The villagers claimed that the Afghan national uttered insulting words for Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

They said they took to the streets until late night demanding the arrest of the accused.

The villagers said the police fired in the air to disperse protesters, who burned old tyres.

The protests began next morning, too.

The JUI-F held a rally and demanded the hanging of the accused.

The party leaders met members of the district bar association and requested them not to defend the accused during trial. They later met the DPO on the issue.

JUI-F provincial naib emir Mufti Fazal Ghafoor claimed that the shopkeepers had heard the accused utter blasphemous words, so they took to the streets.

Meanwhile, the Buner district bar association announced that no lawyer would defend the accused in the court.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2021