The 5,000 strong mob set fire to several police stations in Pakistan and demanded that the officers surrender a suspect of setting fire to a Koran.
The crowd gathered outside the police station in the town of Charsadda, in northern Pakistan, late Sunday after learning cops were holding a man accused of blasphemy.
Police demanded that the man be handed over by the gang to ‘burn him alive like he burnt the Koran’ before turning the light on the station and the surrounding checkpoints.
A mob of people in Pakistan demanded that police hand over an alleged mentally impaired man who was accused of torching a Koran copy.
About 5,000 demonstrators gathered in the late afternoon of Sunday to attack the local police station. Officers were forced to flee for their lives.
On Monday, 2,000 people were still present at the police station. Local officials stated that troops had been summoned to restore order.
A night of anarchy saw around 30 cars set on fire in the same area. The chaos continued through Monday, when approximately 2,000 people were still present.
“The mob invaded the station, asking for the man’s surrender so that they could make him as a holy Koran-burning king,” Asif Bahadur was the district police chief.
Bahadur claimed that the police did not reveal the identity or religion, but that he was mentally impaired.
“The motive for burning the Holy Quran’s copy remains a mystery, however we’re investigating.”
According to Asif Khan, a local officer, no officers were injured in the attack. This forced police to call troops to restore order.
Khan claimed that officers stopped a mob attempt to execute the prisoner and moved the suspect to another area.
After a mob attacked a Pakistani police station overnight, a man took pictures and demanded that the cops turn over a suspect in blasphemy.
The suspect has not been named by police nor have they revealed the motive behind the incident. However, the police stated that the man was’mentally impaired.
The main police station in Charsadda was burned along with several dozen cars, with local police checkpoints also destroyed
The man’s name was not disclosed by him, but he said officers were continuing to investigate and that the suspect had been arrested one day earlier.
Khan claimed that officers tried to resist the attack at first but then fled when thousands of protestors attacked police offices.
He claimed that the police should not have used force to protect demonstrators.
He said that Charsadda’s situation was as normal on Monday and that law enforcement was looking to make arrests for those involved in the attack.
Blasphemy is a crime that carries the death sentence in Pakistan. In Pakistan, mere accusations of the offense can often be enough to trigger mob violence.
Both domestic and international rights organizations claim that blasphemy accusations are often made in an attempt to intimidate minorities or settle scores.
After being falsely accused, a Christian couple was executed and burned in a Punjabi kiln.
After claiming that they had moved the suspected blasphemer from one station to protect his safety, police arrested protestors who continued to demonstrate on Monday
Pakistani policemen baton charge crowds of protestors as they continue to call for the release the alleged blasphemer.
Mumtaz Qadri’s bodyguard shot Salman Taseer (ex-Punjab governor) in Islamabad for calling for law reform to blasphemy.
Asia Bibi was a Pakistani Christian women and labourer hailing from central Punjab. She was convicted in 2010 of blasphemy and sentenced to death. This prompted violent Islamist protests for days.
Later, she and her family fled to Canada.
Mohammad Mashal was attacked by students of the Abdul Wali Khan University north of Mardan and killed. The group had been accusing Mashal of publishing blasphemous Facebook content.
Recent anti-blasphemy protests by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party have often paralysed the country.
A French magazine published cartoons portraying Prophet Mohammed. This is often the reason why demonstrations have been linked with the publication of such cartoons.