Mob torches factory in Jhelum following blasphemy accusation
Hundreds of people surrounded a chipboard factory in Jehlum city on Friday night.
LAHORE (AFP) - An angry mob in Punjab province torched a factory after one of its employees was accused of committing blasphemy, police officials said on Saturday.
Hundreds of people surrounded a chipboard factory in Jehlum city on Friday night and set the facility ablaze after reports surfaced that one employee had allegedly desecrated the Holy Quran.
"The incident took place after we arrested the head of security at the factory, Qamar Ahmed Tahir, for complaints that he ordered the burning of Qurans," Adnan Malik, a senior police official in the area, told AFP.
According to police, another employee at the factory had reported that Tahir was overseeing the burning of Qurans in the facility s boiler and intervened to stop the act.
"We registered a blasphemy case against Tahir, who is Ahmadi by faith, and arrested him after confiscating the burnt material, which also included copies of the Quran," Malik said.
Following the arrest, a mob reportedly descended on the factory, setting it alight.
A spokesman for the local Ahmadi community said three of their members were arrested after the incident.
"Three members of our community have been arrested by police under the charges of blasphemy. There is an accusation of burning the pages of the Quran," Saleem Ud Din told AFP.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, an Islamic republic of some 200 million, where even unproven allegations frequently stir mob violence and lynchings.
