Police file 16 more cases of Jaranwala vandalism incidents

JARANWALA: Local police said that 16 more cases have been registered under sacrilege and anti-terrorism charges in Jaranwala vandalism incidents, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Jaranwala police has registered cases against more than 750 people for “vandalizing multiple churches and torching homes belonging to the Christian community”.

Total number of cases of vandalizing the properties of the Christian community in Jaranwala has reached to 21, police said.

Police has stated that it was conducting raids to arrest the accused involved in the offence.

Over 200 accused nominated in cases, have been arrested so far, police said.

Earlier, Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi said that two prime suspects of violent incidents were arrested.

According to the FIR, a mob of 500-600, who were led by a group of people, “attacked the Christian community, ransacked people’s homes after entering them and torched Christians’ homes and church buildings”.

The FIR invoked sections 7(1)(d), 7(1)(j), 7(1)(g) and 7(1)(h) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

It also invoked sections 148, 149, 153A, 186, 295, 295A, 324, 353, 427, 436 and 452 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The FIR also included sections 5 and 6 of the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act 2015.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government also ordered the formation of a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the incident, in line with directives issued by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq.