Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza | Pakistan

JHELUM: Religious scholar and lecturer Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza survived an attack by on Sunday, police said. The attacker was killed in retaliatory firing. Mirza, known for delivering religious speeches on social media, has over 3.1 million followers on his YouTube channel. He was also attacked earlier this year, and previously survived an assassination attempt in Jhelum in March 2021. The religious scholar was outside the Quran & Sunnat Research Academy where he delivers lectures when a man carrying a 9mm pistol arrived at the premises, lay down on the ground, and opened fire, Jhelum police spokesperson Kashif Kiani told Dawn. Jhelum Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chaudhry Shafiq said police fired back in retaliation, killing the attacker on the spot. He added that Mirza remained safe and unhurt during the attack and is continuing his lectures at the academy. Kiani confirmed that a policeman on the scholar’s security team was injured during the attack. The constable sustained a gunshot wound to hi...

JHELUM: A man was arrested on Sunday after he reportedly attacked cleric Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza, the police said. Per a first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn, the incident took place in Jhelum at Mirza’s Qur’an-o-Sunnat Research Academy at the end of a lecture. According to the complainant Muhammad Kashif Qureshi, a core member of the academy, attendees were returning home after listening to the lecture, but some of them stayed back to take selfies with Engineer Mirza. “Just then, a man attacked Engineer Mirza by grabbing his collar, throwing punches at him, and removing his turban,” the FIR quoted Qureshi as saying. “He violently threw his honourable turban onto the ground, strangled him with both hands to suffocate him, and loudly chanted slogans,” he added. Qureshi was quoted as saying that people present at the site of the incident intervened immediately to protect the scholar. “We then handed him over to the police on duty to ensure that legal action is taken against...

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).