Social media is monitored with a copy of a first information report (FIR) that allegedly shows a complaint against a man from the Ahmadi community to distribute joint meals during the 10th of Muharram (Ashura). Others questioned the authenticity of FIR.
The claim is true.
Assertion
A copy of a first information report began circulating on social media in Pakistan with claims that a 65-year-old man from the Ahmadi community was arrested in the city of Gujranwala in Punjab to distribute Biryani in Ashura.
According to the alleged FIR, a man filed a complaint to the Satellite City Police Station in Gujranwala on July 6 at 1 p.m. 4.30 pm and said he saw an Ahmadi man distributing free meals in the Islamic month Muharram. The complaint was made in accordance with section 298-C of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Others on social media questioned whether FIR was authentic and whether a person can be arrested just to distribute free food.
Fact
FIR is actually authentic, and the Ahmadi man has been arrested by the Punjab police, two officials confirmed.
A police officer at the satellite city police station in Gujranwala, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to GEO FACT CHECK That FIR is circulating online was registered at his police station. He added that the accused man had been arrested but refused to go into detail about the charges.
The case was registered in accordance with section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which prohibits Ahmadis from calling Muslims or propagates their faith. However, it is still unclear how this provision applies to distributing free meals.
Muhammad Irfan, Public Relations Officer for Gujranwala City Police, also told GEO FACT CHECK During the phone that the defendant has been sent to jail on the jail jail.
“The defendant was arrested by the local police and presented to court. The court has sent him to prison,” he wrote via messages.
Judgment A man from the Ahmadi community was arrested in Gujranwala for distributing food at Ashura. Fir is real.
