Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza was placed in “ preventive guard ” of his academy in Jhelum, police announced on Tuesday after his arrest surfaced.
According to the deputy commissioner of Jhelum, Muhammad Meesam Abbas and the police officer of the district Ahmed Mohiyuddin, Mirza was detained under article 3 of the order of public order.
Under article 3 of the MPO, the authorities have the power to arrest and have suspects to prevent “anyone from acting in any case harmful to public security” or to maintain public order.
The police said that this so-called arrest is like a “preventive detention” and that no criminal accusation has been taken from him.
According to Punjab police, the statements made by Mirza in a certain viral video could cause sectarian violence, making his detention under the MPO “inevitable”.
He is detained for 30 days on the orders of the deputy commissioner of Jhelum, Syed Maysam Abbas, according to the district police. The Islamic Academy of Mirza in Jhelum was also sealed, the police added.
The Express PK Press Club was able to contact certain knowledge of Mirza, who said that Mirza had agreed to relax if it meant avoiding violence.
Read: Religious scholar Muhammad Ali Mirza was arrested in Jhelum
The details concerning the case are rare, but what we know is that on Sunday, a group of religious figures met Jhelum’s deputy commissioner and submitted a written complaint requiring an action against the “controversial declarations” that Mirza made in said video.
The first meeting of Mirza with the law took place in May 2020, when he was charged with allegations to make derogatory comments on other religious academics. He was then released on bail.
In 2023, Mirza found himself involved in another controversy with an accusation of blasphemy was filed against him in April of the same year.
Mirza survived three assassination attempts in 2019, 2021 and 2023. In 2023, a Madrasa student broke into the Mirza’s Research Academy armed with a knife. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) also offered a bonus of 500,000 rupees on the head of Mirza.
