[DAWN] Mirpurkhas police on late Monday registered a blasphemy case against a veterinary doctor in Phuladiyon and took him into custody.The doctor, who is from the Hindu community, was accused of blasphemy after a man alleged that he had provided medicines wrapped in paper that he claimed "had Koranic verses printed on them".
The man who had received these medicines for his livestock informed a local holy man Mohammad Ishaq Nohri, who then registered a complaint with Phuladiyon police in Sindhri cop shoppe, said Mirpurkhas DIG Saqib Ismail Memon. In his statement to the police, Nohri claimed that he found damaged pages of Islamic books at the vet's clinic.
DIG Memon said that a first investigation report was registered against the doctor under sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 295-B (defiling, etc., of Holy Koran) of the Pakistain Penal Code.
Phuladiyon is situated 40km away from Mirpurkhas and according to an estimate, the total population of this area is around 6,000 to 7,000 people with a majority of Hindu citizens, according to BBC Urdu.
As word spread about the incident, riots broke out in the area and according to DIG Memon, a mob burnt down the doctor's shop, a cabin that belonged to his brother, and a cycle of violence
.DIG Memon said that the mob also tried to attack the cop shoppe and damaged its door in the process. Six suspects were taken into custody for rioting and damaging the vet's property.
A source within the police department said that the doctor was taken into custody as there was fear that he may be harmed by the mob. Police, while speaking to BBC Urdu, said that the doctor says "all this is a mistake".
Mirpurkhas SHO Javed Iqbal told BBC Urdu that the people that attacked the doctor's practice neither had love for Islam nor for their neighbours, "they were just miscreants".