PESHAWAR: Police arrested a man accused of insulting Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an, in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday after being alerted that a mob wanted to lynch him, police said.

The man, identified as Humayun Ullah, was arrested in Khazana, an area on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police officer Nasir Khan said.

He said the man was arrested as a mob was trying to grab him in a street.

Video posted on social media showed hundreds of people blocking a road near a police station and demanding the man be handed over to them. Gunshots were also heard near the police station, where the man was being held for questioning.

Khan said the man allegedly made derogatory remarks about the Qur’an during a heated argument with his brother at the family’s home. He said some of the demonstrators threw stones at the police station and threatened to burn it and harm officers if the man was not handed over to them.

Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death — though authorities have yet to carry out a death sentences for blasphemy.

The arrest Tuesday came two months after the government said police had orchestrated the killing of a doctor who was in custody after being accused of blasphemy in southern Sindh province. The doctor had voluntarily surrendered following assurances from officers that he would be given a chance to prove his innocence.

In November 2021, a mob burned a police station and four police posts in northwestern Charsadda district after officers refused to hand over a mentally unstable man accused of desecrating the Qur’an.

ISLAMABAD: Air quality improved in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Tuesday, prompting authorities in the worst-affected Lahore and Multan cities to reopen schools from Wednesday after over ten days of being closed due to record-high pollution levels.

Lahore’s air quality index (AQI) fell to 158 late on Tuesday, which Swedish group IQAir categorizes as unhealthy, after crossing 2,000 in some locations last week.

On Monday, the Punjab government had said schools would reopen across Punjab province, except for in the Lahore and Multan divisions.

“The ambient air quality has improved in Punjab, due to rain in upper parts of Punjab, change in wind direction and speed,” a notification said.

“Therefore, all the educational institutions in the whole province, including Lahore and Multan Division, shall be opened w.e.f. 20-11-2024 (Wednesday).”

The notification said school opening timings could not be before 845am, as smog is thickest in the early morning hours, and all students and staff had to wear face masks.

“There shall be a complete ban on outdoor sports and outdoor co-curricular activities till further orders,” the notification added. “All educational institutions shall introduce class wise school closing timing to avoid traffic congestions.”

Record-high air pollution levels have triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, junior and high school closures and stay-at-home orders in several districts of Punjab, including the provincial capital of Lahore, which has been enveloped in a thick, toxic smog since last month.

Schools and government offices were closed earlier this month in many districts of Punjab, with the closures affecting the education of more than 20 million students, according to associations representing private and government schools.

Authorities in 18 districts of Punjab also closed all public parks, zoos and museums, historical places, and playgrounds for ten days last week. 

A court in Lahore ordered the government to shut all markets after 8pm, while authorities have already banned barbecuing food without filters and ordered wedding halls to close by 10pm.

Last week, the UN children’s agency said the health of 11 million children in Punjab province was in danger because of air pollution.