GILGIT, Jan 1: Law-enforcement agencies detained another Shia cleric from Jalalabad, about 30kms east of Gilgit, under the Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) during a Friday congregation. Police said that the detained cleric, Shaikh Ghulam Muhiyuddin, was detained in the presence of hundreds of his followers in Jalalabad. They said police had earlier detained a cleric, Shaikh Nasir Hussain Zamani, citing same reasons.

Independent sources said that followers of the cleric protested against the police action but the detained leaders appealed to their followers to remain calm.

Meanwhile, the Imamia Council Gilgit termed the police action an attempt to sabotage talks to defuse the prevailing tense situation. But officials said they had already informed the clerics not to hold such meetings in the greater interest of sectarian harmony in the region.