Chinese in Pak judicial custody for blasphemy

Peshawar, April 18

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An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s Abbottabad has sent a Chinese national to jail on a 14-day judicial remand on blasphemy charges in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Tian was arrested on Sunday and shifted to Abbottabad via an Army helicopter due to security concerns on Monday as the police feared local people could harm him.

The accused Chinese national was a manager at the Dasu hydropower project in the Upper Kohistan district. He allegedly made blasphemous remarks on Friday when the workers were going to perform the weekly prayer.

In Beijing, a concerned China on Tuesday said it was verifying the information. Considering the close relations with China, Pakistan has taken extraordinary precautions to protect the Chinese engineer, reports stated.