Chitral blasphemy case: K-P CM has assured attackers will be freed, claims JI

Ex-MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali claims CM called the K-P IGP and told him to "take steps for the arrested men's release"

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has assured the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) that the 20 men arrested in Chitral in April for attacking a police station in an attempt to kill a mentally-ill man accused of blasphemy would be released, JI leader and former MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Chitrali said a delegation comprising Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan, Minister for Finance Muzafar Said and Abdul Haq – all of them JI leaders – met Khattak at his residence on Friday night and discussed the “real situation” of what happened on April 21.

An enraged mob had beaten up a man, who is believed to be mentally ill, for allegedly committing blasphemy during the Friday sermon inside the Shahi Mosque that day. The man’s life was spared when the quick-thinking imam called the police and handed him over to them instead.

However, the mob had then tried to break into the police station where the man was being held. The situation remained tense and the district administration had to call in security forces to disperse the crowd.



The JI has repeatedly been calling for the release of the 20 suspects who have been booked under various clauses of the Anti-Terrorism Act and also face charges of attacking the Chitral police station and disturbing law and order.

The delegation that met the chief minister on Friday went with the main agenda to demand the suspects' immediate release.

According to Chitrali, they informed the the chief minister that the poor residents of Chitral were locked up in a DI Khan jail and later shifted to Chitral jail.

The JI leader claimed that the CM had assured them that their demands would be met and also spoke with the K-P police chief on the phone, directing him to take steps to release the “innocent people".

Chitrali also demanded that "exemplary punishments” should be meted out to those who commit blasphemy.