The Punjab government has constituted 10 joint investigations teams to probe multiple cases pertaining to the ransacking of churches in Faisalabad’s Jaranwala town following an alleged incident of blasphemy last week.

On August 16, a violent mob of hundreds ransacked and torched nearly two dozen churches, attacked the residences of members of the Christian community and the office of the local assistant commissioner in Jaranwala.

According to estimates compiled by Faisalabad’s district administration, at least 22 churches ransacked by mobs suffered damages to the tune of Rs29.1 million whereas 91 houses which bore the brunt of violence suffered losses to the tune of Rs38.5m.

As per police and local sources, the violence erupted after some locals alleged that several desecrated pages of the Holy Quran were found near a house at Cinema Chowk in Jaranwala, where two Christian brothers resided.

A day after the incident, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Moshin Naqvi said that “both main accused” in the case were arrested and kept in the custody of the Counter Terrorism Department.

Several more arrests have been made in connection with the incident since.

In another development on Wednesday, the Punjab government notified the formation of 10 JITs to investigate cases registered in relevance to the matter at various police stations in Faisalabad. All 10 notifications issued in this regard are available with Dawn.com.

All the notifications stated that the JITs were being formed “in exercise of powers conferred under Section 19(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997”.

Punjab IG refutes reports of pastor’s arrest

Separately, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar refuted today reports of the arrest of a pastor in connection with the matter.

The Punjab police chief made the clarification while talking to Dawn.com, when asked about a report published news website AajEnglish.

According to the report, a pastor named Amjad Alam had been arrested in Faisalabad who had recorded a video prior to his purported arrest.

The report quoted him as saying in the video that he was in Peshawar on August 16 and not in Jaranwala, but personnel from the Crime Investigation Agency had arrived to arrest him.

Dawn.com could not find the said video online.