HYDERABAD / BADIN: Police had to fire teargas shells and resorted to aerial firing in the Fazal Town area of Phulleli late on Friday night to disperse an angry mob.

The situation was tense, but no one was reported injured.

SSP Hyderabad Abdul Salam Shaikh, DC Fuad Soomro along with the Rangers wing commander reached the area to bring the situation under control.

According one resident, the trouble had been brewing since the evening after someone had done something blasphemous.

By that time the mob had torched the empty structure of a sabeel on the main road.

The charged crowd carrying rods and sticks had gathered, raising slogans against those responsible for the incident.

A man had committed blasphemy and shared the video by mobile phone,” the resident further alleged.

The SSP engaged Haji Gulshan Ellahi, a local leader, to talk to the protesters to normalise situation.

According to the DC, “we are negotiating and things will be normalised. Some social media post has led to this flare-up”.

The spokesman for Anjuman-i-Imamia Sindh demanded action in the matter before the situation went out of control.

On Thursday, Hyderabad Commissioner Abbas Baloch imposed Section 144 in four towns of Badin district following sectarian disturbances.

The trouble started when followers of one sect came across provocative wall chalking outside a mosque in Kadhan town and indulged in heated argument with those belonging to the other sect.

The administration tried to defuse the situation but tension gripped three other towns prompting the commissioner to impose Section 144 in all four towns — Badin, Kadhan, Tando Bago and Talhar — and their surrounding areas till Aug 22.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2021