Case registered against Bannu resident for accusing ulema of incorrect moon sighting

Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district registered a case under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) against a local resident for allegedly using offensive language against scholars while criticising them over the incorrect moon sighting for Ramadan.

According to details, the accused had reportedly criticised religious scholars for failing to announce the Ramadan moon and had uploaded a video on social media in this regard.

A first information report (FIR) was registered at the Bannu City Police Station on the complaint of Maulana Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi.

The complainant claimed that he watched a video in which the accused was using foul language against Pakistani scholars and abusing them.

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The FIR stated that the accused claimed to have personally sighted the Ramadan moon and believed it appeared to be two days old, alleging that scholars in Pakistan and Bannu had deprived people of one day of fasting.

Maulana Abdul Ghaffar further alleged that the video insulted the symbols of Islam and religious scholars.

The case wass registered under Section 11 of PECA, which pertains to hate speech.

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According to BBC Urdu, City Police Station SHO Zaheer Khan told the media that police are conducting raids to apprehend the accused, but no arrests have been made so far. 

SHO Zaheer Khan also stated that he was unaware of whether the accused had secured pre-arrest bail.