Sialkot police registered a first information report (FIR) on Monday against multiple suspects for allegedly vandalising the properties of and attacking the members of the Ahmadi community the previous night.
The FIR, was registered at Moutra police station on behalf of Sub-Inspector Amir Ali Sindhu.
It invokes Sections 395 (punishment for dacoity), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a house), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 324 (attempt to commit murder), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of a common object) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
In the FIR, the complainant said he, along with other policemen, was patrolling and checking security arrangements at Bhalowali Chowk on Sunday when they received reports around 8pm of some people having riled others up against the Ahmadi community and gathering them in large numbers at Piro Chak village. There were also reports of them looting and setting properties on fire.
“When I reached the spot, around 200-250 people armed with weapons and sticks were present there,” he said, adding that upon seeing the police, they lunged toward them and snatched weapons from two of the policemen.
According to the FIR, it was not possible for the police to immediately control the mob as law enforcement personnel were few in number. “So, I contacted the control room after which more personnel were sent,” the FIR quoted the complainant as saying.
He added that there was commotion at the site of the incident as residents were “terrorised”.
The complainant said the initial probe revealed that on September 21, a woman from the Ahmadi community had died in the village whose burial was not allowed. Meanwhile, he continued, “hatred on basis of religion and enmity” was promoted against the community, causing the law and order situation to deteriorate.
Five people were injured during this, the complainant said, adding that they were sent to the hospital.
The FIR said further facts of the incidents would become clear after the injured and affected people would be included in the inquiry.
It alleged the suspects of “deliberately promoting enmity against the Ahmadi community”, hurting their sentiments, setting their properties on fire, looting them, opening fire on them with the intention to kill, attacking a police party and snatching weapons from them and spreading fear among the residents of the area where the incident took place.
The complainant asked for an investigating officer to be assigned to probe the incident.
Meanwhile, Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Faisal Shehzad told on Sunday night that eight people were injured in the incident, “five of whom are from the Ahmadi community and three from the TLP (Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan)”.
He said among the injured from the Ahmadi community, one person was shot at, adding that condition of all the injured was stable.
The DPO also said the issue began when the burial of an Ahmadi woman was not allowed at a graveyard established in 1945. Later, some members of the Ahmadi community tortured some others. Two cases were registered – one against the members of the Ahmadi community and another against their adversaries, he added.
On Saturday, he continued, some members of the Ahmadi community “beat another person, following which TLP members set two to three of their farm houses and a shop on fire”. The official said they also “tortured” members of the Ahmadi community.
“Anti-riot police were called and situation is now normal,” he said, adding that “a case will be registered against (members of) the TLP”.
Sunday’s incident comes less than a month after 300 people were booked on terrorism charges in two cases for setting two worship places of the Ahmadi community on fire in Faisalabad.
According to the FIRs, TLP ticket-holder Hafiz Rafaqat led the mob, which was armed with rods and bricks. Members of the community who tried to resist were severely beaten, leaving several injured.
Previously in July, 51 people were arrested and 142 booked for attacking police and an Ahmadi place of worship in Daska.
In April, a 46-year-old businessman was lynched when a few hundred supporters of the TLP had stormed a place of worship belonging to the Ahmadi community in Karachi’s Saddar area to prevent it from observing religious rituals.