Published on: Friday, January 01, 2021
By: AFP
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Members of Pakistan Hindu Council hold placards during a protest against a mob attack to a Hindu temple in a remote village in Karak district, in Karachi.
KARAK: At least two dozen people, including several Muslim clerics, were detained Thursday after a mob attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple in northwest Pakistan, police said.
Around 1,500 Muslims on Wednesday descended on the temple which was destroyed in similar circumstances in 1997 after staging a protest against renovations at an adjoining building owned by Hindus.
The temple is located in a remote village in Karak district, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Peshawar.
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Pakistani police arrested 14 people in overnight raids after a Hindu temple was set on fire and demolished by a mob led by supporters of a radical Islamist party.
The temple s destruction on Wednesday in the north-western town of Karak drew condemnation from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community.
More raids were under way to arrest individuals who participated or provoked the mob to demolish the temple.
According to witnesses, the crowd was led by a local cleric and supporters of Pakistan s radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party.
The attack happened after members of the Hindu community received permission from local authorities to renovate the temple.
Pakistan arrests at least 26 after Hindu temple destroyed gulftoday.ae - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gulftoday.ae Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Police in Pakistan have arrested more than a dozen people in overnight raids a day after Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj Samadhi, a Hindu temple, was set on fire and badly damaged by a mob in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakthunkhwa, officials said on Thursday.
The attack on the temple on Wednesday in the town of Karak, some 100km (62 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Peshawar, drew condemnation from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community.
Local police said they detained 24 people in overnight raids and more raids were under way to arrest individuals who participated or provoked the mob into attacking the temple.
31 arrested for setting fire to Karak Hindu temple
Cleric who led the mob also in custody SAMAA | Basit Gilani and AFP - Posted: Dec 31, 2020 | Last Updated: 3 months ago SAMAA | Basit Gilani and AFP Posted: Dec 31, 2020 | Last Updated: 3 months ago
Policemen inspect the burnt Hindu temple a day after a mob attack in Karak district on December 31, 2020. (AFP)
Police have arrested 31 people for setting fire to a historic Hindu temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district, the KP inspector-general said Thursday.
IG Sanaullah Abbasi told reporters in Karak that at least 300 people have been nominated in the FIR. Of them, 31 have been arrested while others are being identified with the help of the video footage.