SAHIWAL: Police have registered a case against a Chichawatni man on charge of blasphemy for his posts on Facebook.

The case was registered against the 25-year-old man on the complaint of Shamsul Hasan, an assistant sub-inspector of the Saddar Police Station, Chichawatni, on Saturday night. The man, a resident of Chak 107/12-L, was an employee of the Senate in Islamabad but was removed from the job recently.

According to the FIR registered under Section 295 (C) of the PPC and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, the suspect was uploading hate material against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It refers to four different posts wherein the suspect had written against the holy figures of Islam.

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The report claimed that ASIs Shams, Imran Hyder, Constable Muddasir Jahangir and driver Wakeel Ahmed on a routine patrol near Lower Bari Doab Canal of Chak 107/12-L when they came across the Facebook account of the suspect where they saw posts against the Holy Prophet and Islam. Police claimed they took screenshots of the posts and saved them in the USB.

Police failed to arrest the suspect. ASP Maazur Rehman said the suspect would be arrested soon.

Dawn has learnt police have cordoned off the suspect’s house where his wife and three children were living and the law enforcement agency personnel in civvies are present in the village to counter any incident.

The suspect is stated to be married and has three kids. His father was working in the Senate as a clerk and he was granted a job in place of his father after his death. He is currently underground and was not in his village when the case was registered.

DPO Faisal Shahzad said police had taken his family and children into custody and shifted them to an undisclosed location. He confirmed that seven cases of blasphemy were registered in district Sahiwal only this year.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2024