A man being described as the “main culprit” behind the Nankana Sahib protest has been arrested and a case lodged against him.

The Punjab Chief Minister’s Focal Person on Digital Media, Azhar Mashwani, announced the news via Twitter.

He identified the man as Imran and posted a photograph of him behind bars. Mashwani said the FIR registered at the Nankana police station is under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting Its religion or religious beliefs) , 290 (public nuisance), 291 (continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 (every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of a common offence) of the Pakistan Penal Code, Section 6 of the Sound System Act, and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

With the inclusion of a clause of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Imran is no longer eligible for bail.

Last week, a group of people staged a protest outside the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, located in its namesake city, after police raided house of a Muslim man, who had married a Sikh woman.

The woman’s family had accused him of forcibly converting her to Islam. However, his relatives denied the accusation, saying the woman willingly converted and wanted to stay with her husband. The man’s family had also accused the police of mistreating them during the raid.

The protest was ended after local officials intervened and promised to investigate the raid. Videos on social media showed protesters pelting the gurdwara with stones.

However, officials have repeatedly denied that the gurdwara was attacked and say the issue was between two Muslim groups. Mashwani and the Foreign Office both reiterated this.

On Twitter, Mashwani wrote that the scuffle was between two Muslim groups and had nothing to do with Sikhs. “To save his family members’ skin (the guilty party) Imran tried to create a scene [and claim] his family is being victimised due to his brother’s marriage,” he said.

“The relatives of this guy, Imran (brother of Hassan who eloped with a Sikh woman) had a scuffle with Muslim customers and they beat the customers. The police took action and then Imran started the drama that they are being victimised due to that marriage issue,” he added.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah visited Nankana Sahib and vowed action would be taken against the individuals responsible for the incident.

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the protest on Sunday and said it was against his “vision and will find zero tolerance and protection from the government, including police and judiciary”.

The prime minister, however, differentiated it from ongoing attacks on Muslims and other minorities across India. “In contrast, [Narendra] Modi’s RSS vision supports minorities’ oppression and the targeted attacks against Muslims are part of this agenda,” he said.

“RSS goons conducting public lynchings, Muslims being violated by mobs are all not only supported by the Modi government but Indian police leads anti-Muslim attacks.”

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