PESHAWAR: The police arrested four Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers for allegedly blocking a major road here on Friday during a rally against the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden.

The rally was staged outside the press club building with security measures in place by the police, according to a first information report registered by the Police Station East.

The FIR said, “The protest intensified around 3pm causing inconvenience to the general public and ambulances on the Sher Shah Suri Road for around 30 minutes. The police arrested five persons on the spot, while 300-400 protesters are being traced.”

The PTI provincial leadership condemned what it called pre-planned arrests and claimed that authorities had directed the police to act against PTI workers.

“The entire world is protesting the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden, but here, directions are issued to the police to crack down on the PTI,” provincial spokesman for the party Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif told Dawn from an undisclosed location.

He said that defying all odds, the PTI leaders and workers took to the streets to protest the desecration of the Holy Quran.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2023