ISLAMABAD: Police have registered a case against the attack on singer-turned-evangelist Junaid Jamshed, who was assaulted by a group of angry men at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Saturday night.

The case was registered at Airport police station on the complaint of Jamsheed against unidentified individuals under Section 506 and 341 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Jamshed was attacked at Islamabad airport when we arrived there on a flight from Karachi on Saturday night.

A video of the attack that was widely shared on social media showed the men attacking and verbally abusing him.

Police said the attackers were also on board the same flight as Jamshed and began shouting abuses at him as they came out of the lounge.

The angry mob resorted to punching and kicking him even as he tried to escape. His wife, who had come to the airport to receive him, panicked and called for the police.

In the video, Jamshed can be seen retreating towards the lounge as he is pursued by the small mob.

He was finally rescued when he took shelter in the nearby office of the deputy terminal manager.

However, the attackers managed to flee the scene before a police party reached the scene. The victim was then brought to the airport police post, where he filed a complaint against the unidentified attackers.

In his complaint, Jamshed said “he had been attacked by a group of six to seven men when he arrived from Karachi on PIA flight PK372 around 11:30pm”.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan reacted sharply to the treatment meted out to the former pop star.

“No one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands and intolerant behaviour should be discouraged at all levels,” the statement quoted him as saying.

The minister had directed the police to get in touch with Jamshed himself and register a case.

Jamshed faced blasphemy accusations in December 2014 when the Sunni Tehreek complained about one of his televised sermons, where he had reportedly used derogatory language for one of the wives of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He then had to publicly apologise and released a video where he asked for forgiveness.

It is likely that the attack on Jamshed at Islamabad airport was also connected to the same incident, as his attackers appeared to taunt him about those remarks in the video.