Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza | Pakistan

The Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Wednesday approved the bail of cleric Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza in a blasphemy case registered in Jhelum.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has secured a seven-day physical remand of religious scholar Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza in a case pertaining to alleged desecration of sacred personalities.

Jhelum police said on Tuesday that they have detained cleric Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza for 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance for alleged controversial remarks and later booked him under blasphemy charges. Mirza, a resident of Machine Mohallah of Jhelum city, frequently uploads his lectures and speeches on his social media accounts and has amassed 3.1 million followers on his YouTube channel. Earlier today, Jhelum Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Meesam Abbas and District Police Officer (DPO) Ahmed Mohiyuddin confirmed Mirza’s arrest under MPO to Dawn.com. Section 3 of the MPO ordinance gives authorities the power to arrest and detain suspected persons to prevent “any person from acting in any manner prejudicial to public safety” or to maintain public order. A religious group had yesterday filed an application, seen by Dawn.com, requesting legal action against Mirza for alleged controversial remarks made during an interview that “went viral on social media”. Separately, a first inform...

Police on Tuesday arrested renowned religious scholar Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO).