At least three people were killed and several others injured as protesters went on a rampage over an alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Kuchlak area of Balochistan on Saturday.
A large number of protesters set a police station and five vehicles on fire as news of desecration of the Holy Quran spread in the area. Police have arrested a suspect who was reported to be “mentally retarded”, administration official Qambar Dashti said.
“Angry protesters, mostly Afghan refugees, torched several vehicles and pelted police with stones,” Dashti said.
“Chanting the man should be killed for blasphemy, they later entered the police station and started firing,” he said, adding that a senior police officer narrowly escaped while his police guard was wounded in the shooting.
Police fired tear gas shells and opened fire in self defence, Quetta police chief Qazi Wajid said.
The clash left one protester dead and 19 people wounded including eight policemen, he said. “All the wounded people have bullet injuries,” he added.
The protesters said the man deserved death for blasphemy and demanded police hand him over to them, he said.
“The man appeared to be mentally retarded, we have taken him into custody and ordered an investigation,” Wajid said, adding that control had been restored.
Pakistan is majority Muslim and its tough anti-blasphemy laws make defaming Islam or the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), or desecrating the Holy Quran, punishable by death.
Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer was shot dead in January last year by one of his police bodyguards for opposing the blasphemy law.