Workers at the dam site accused a Chinese national employed by the Dasu hydroelectric project of uttering blasphemous statements during a heated dispute, and the man was later placed into police custody amid rioting.
An Abbottabad anti-terrorism court sentenced the man, who had been arrested in the Upper Kohistan area on blasphemy accusations, to be held in custody for a period of 14 days. Mohammad Khalid, the district police officer (DPO) in Upper Kohistan, informed reporters that the foreign suspect had been detained on terrorism and blasphemy accusations and had been flown from the area to appear before the anti-terrorist court (ATC) in Abbottabad.
The suspect was eventually brought before the ATC under tight security. He was transported to Islamabad on a chopper, according to the DPO, but security authorities would not disclose where he was being held. The guy reportedly told workers at the dam that prayer breaks were wasting “precious time” and that this was a problem. Some of the employees were outraged by this, so they dispersed to other communities and stirred unrest. After that, a huge agitated mob moved towards Kamila Bazaar and shut down the Karakoram Highway (KKH), threatening to storm the Dasu Hydropower Project (DHP) location if the Chinese guy wasn’t taken into custody.
A group of elderly people Intervened to try to calm the masses, requesting that they wait until the police handled the “delicate matter.” The incident was eventually reported as a First Information Report (FIR) under Sections 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Kamila police station in Upper Kohistan. Several employees, together with their translators, were reported in the FIR as claiming that the suspect made “sacrilegious remarks” when they asked for a break to pray. On Sunday night, a crowd allegedly attempted to break into a Chinese camp close to Barseen, according to the FIR, which was reported to police. An immediate police response blocked off the area, sent in a police party, and transported the suspect to Kamila police station.
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