Increase font size Decrease font size Reset font size

Cinema set ablaze

2024-10-06
KARACHI: Liberty Cinema, which is under construction on Bunder Road in Karachi opposite the site of the Memon Mosque, was set on fire by an excited mob after the Id-ulAzha congregation on Tuesday [Oct 4]. The proprietor of the cinema estimates a loss of about Rs 1,00,000.

The mob ... also ... obstructed the Municipal Fire Brigade in extinguishing the fire. It was extinguished later with the help of the police. Earlier ... a demand for the closing down of the cinema was made by the managing committee of the mosque.

After the Id prayers ... certain members of the managing committee of the mosque ...

made speeches inciting the mob to bring pressure upon the authorities to issue order[s] for the immediate closing down of the cinema. ... The mob, consisting of about 2,000 persons, encircled the cinema and set it on fire. The furniture and other articles lying in the cinema were collected and made a bonfire of. The stage was ransacked. A regenerator, fixed on the stage, was totally smashed. The compound and the boundary walls of the cinema were later set on fire.

Staff reporter