A mob attacked and set on fire a police station in Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda district on Sunday, demanding that authorities hand over a man arrested for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran.
KP Law Minister Fazal Shakoor Khan, who hails from Charsadda, told Dawn.com that police had arrested a man for allegedly desecrating the Quran on Sunday and shifted him to the Mandani police station in Charsadda’s Tangi tehsil.
A mob later gathered outside the police station and demanded that officials hand over the man to them. When police denied their demand, the mob, which had grown to a sizeable number by late evening, grew agitated and attacked the police station and set it on fire. They also vandalised the vehicles parked in the police station, according to the minister.
He told Pakistan Daily Dawn.com that police managed to shift the suspect to a safe location.
The government will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands,” he said. “The suspect who has been arrested will be proceeded against in accordance with the law.”
The minister added that the situation was still tense in the area.
Given the current law and order situation, police have yet to release more details about the man in custody and the complaint against him. Police also did not confirm any casualties in the violence.
Peshawar Division Commissioner Riaz Mehsud confirmed the attack, saying 4,000-5,000 people had ransacked the police station and a police post in their pursuit for “mob justice”.
