Wednesday, June 29 2005 20:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Peshawar: Police have arrested a Christian man in northwestern Pakistan after complaints that he tore pages from the Quran and set them on fire, an official said today (Jun 29, 2005).

Police detained Yousaf Masih, 35, last night in the town of Nowshera after his neighbours reported that he was burning the Quran in a street close to his home, said Wajid Ali, a policeman, adding that burned pages of the Quran were found nearby.

About 300 Muslims took to the streets in Masih's neighbourhood after his arrest demanding a quick punishment, Ali said.

Some people in the crowd pelted a nearby Hindu temple with stones thinking wrongly that Masih was a Hindu, but police controlled the violence and arrested five people for rioting, he said.