RAWALPINDI: A cleric banned from entering Rawalpindi district was arrested for violating the ban orders on Saturday. He was later released on bail.

Maulana Mohammad Abbas Kami, who belongs to Lahore, is among 40 clerics who have been prohibited from entering the Rawalpindi district during Muharram by the provincial government.

Maulana Kami violated the ban on Sunday when he addressed a Majlis at Mandra. Station House Officer (SHO) Mandra Altaf Gohar told Dawn that the maulana did not care about the ban and went on to address the majlis anyway.

In a separate incident, a hundred participants of a mourning procession at Chontra were booked by the police on Sunday on charges of blocking a road, obstructing the police from discharging their duty and violating the designated route for the procession.

A police source said eight participants of the procession were nominated in the FIR. However, because of a shortage of manpower, none of the nominated men were arrested.

All officers posted at Chontra, except the in charge and moharrar, had been deployed on local elections duty in Faisalabad.

The police in charge told Dawn: “The people nominated in the FIR will be arrested as soon as the officers return.”

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2015

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