Nearly 50 injured as devotees conflict with police at Pakistan shrine closed attributable to COVID-19
Policemen on obligation tried to push the devotees which led to clashes.
Overnight clashes between devotees and legislation enforcement personnel at a shrine closed attributable to coronavirus restrictions left almost 50 individuals, together with policemen, injured in Pakistan’s Sindh province, prompting authorities to deploy paramilitary troops on Friday morning.
The incident on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday evening occurred after the provincial authorities introduced the closure of all shrines to curb the unfold of the coronavirus pandemic.
The clashes occurred after a whole lot of devotees, who had gathered in Sehwan for the annual Urs, defied authorities orders and tried to enter the shrine.
An official on the shrine stated that the devotees had gathered on the shrine for the 769th Urs (dying anniversary) of Lal Shahbaz Qalander, a revered Sufi saint.
Policemen on obligation tried to push the devotees which led to clashes by which some 40 devotees and 7 policemen had been injured and brought to hospital.
“Many of the devotees had come from outside of Sindh and were staying in and around Sehwan and were perhaps not aware of the government orders when they started gathering at the shrine,” Jamshoro Deputy Commissioner, Capt (retd) Fareeduddin Mustafa stated.
Mustafa stated the paramilitary rangers had been deputed on the Lal Shahbaz Qalander shrine on Friday after the clashes. In 2017, a suicide bomb assault contained in the shrine had killed 90 individuals and left round 300 injured after which the federal government has upped safety measures on the shrine.
Pakistan has reported 678,165 COVID-19 circumstances to date with 14,613 deaths.