RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Bhong police have registered three cases against the rioters who vandalised a Hindu temple and blocked Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) after a nine-year-old Hindu boy was granted bail by court in a case of urinating in a seminary.

Sources said the FIRs No 230/21, 231/21 and 232/21 had been filed in the Bhong police station and the state was the complainant in the case of vandalising the temple and forcibly closing the shops during protest.

The situation at Bhong Town was relatively calm on Thursday, though there was panic. Bahawalpur Regional Police Officer Zubair Dareshak, RYK Deputy Commissioner Khurram Shehzad and RYK DPO Asad Sarfraz visited the temple.

The DC told this correspondent that a CCTV footage was being acquired and cases would be registered against the protesters after the identification of those involved in rioting. He said the district administration would issue a press statement about the updated situation.

DPO Asad Sarfraz declined to speak about the FIRs and promised that the police spokesperson would brief the media on the development. However, the spokesperson neither held any briefing till 10pm nor returned phone calls.

Sources said there were more than 100 houses of Hindu families associated with gold business and a majority of them had shifted to their relatives’ houses in Obaru, Daharki and Ghotki towns in Sindh. A heavy contingent of police and Rangers cordoned off the temple and no one was allowed to enter even the adjacent streets.

The shops in the main market of Bhong were opened but there were very few visitors.

Meanwhile, work on the renovation of Bhong Mandir began on the instructions of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, according to tweets shared by the Punjab government.

Unconfirmed reports said the Bahawalpur RPO had suspended Bhong SHO Jam Ijaz for negligence.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2021