SAHIWAL, July 21: Hundreds of villagers took out a protest procession on Friday against the Noorshah police station SHO for setting free the accused who allegedly desecrated the Holy Quran in Chak 77/5-R.

The protesters carried banners inscribed with their demand to remove the SHO from service and arrest the accused.

It may be recalled that six armed bandits robbed the houses of Naseer and Siddique. They took away valuables worth Rs350,000.

They tore the holy books in the houses and walked on them on the night of May 23. The villagers traced the accused and handed them over to Noorshah police.

The police recovered the stolen goods and the accused admitted the desecration of the holy book. The SHO reportedly set the accused, identified Abid Masih, Shahbaz Masih, Akra, Kala, Mazhar and Javed after accepting heavy bribe.

The leaders of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, the Jamiat Ahle Hadith and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Maulana Mukhtar Ahmad, Maulana Abdul Latif, Maulana Zafar Iqbal, Maulvi Abdul Razzaq and Rana Imran, led the protest procession.

The protesters marched from Chak 77/5-R to the district courts. They raised slogans against the police and demanded the arrest of the accused.