AFP / Arif Ali 
 
 Pakistani Muslims pray in Lahore in September 
 
 Police in Pakistan have arrested an imam for inciting violence after a 15-year-old boy who was reported to have been mistakenly accused of blasphemy cut off his own hand. 
 
 The cleric, Shabbir Ahmed, last Monday told worshippers at a village mosque that those who love the Prophet Mohammad always say their prayers, before asking who among the crowd had stopped praying, according to local police chief Nausher Ahmed. 
 
 Mohammad Anwar, 15, raised his hand by mistake after apparently mishearing the question. 
 
 Ahmed then accused the boy of blasphemy, according to local media, a serious allegation in Muslim-majority Pakistan. 
 
 Anwar fled home, where he cut off the hand he had raised and placed it on a plate before presenting it to the imam, according to police chief Ahmed. 
 
 The imam was arrested late Saturday and would appear in court on Monday "for further legal proceedings", Ahmed added. 
 
 "Shabbir Ahmed, the cleric, has been arrested and booked under anti-terror law for inciting the boy to take such an extreme step," Ahmed told AFP from Hujra Shah Muqeem district, some 125 kilometres (77 miles) south of Lahore in Punjab province. 
 
 Faisal Rana, a senior police official, confirmed the arrest. 
 
 Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, an Islamic republic of some 200 million, where even unproven allegations frequently stir mob violence and lynchings. 
 
 Critics including European governments say the country's blasphemy laws are often misused to settle personal scores. ||||| Pakistani police have arrested the imam of a mosque for inciting violence after a 15-year-old boy, who was told by the religious leader that he was a blasphemer, went home and cut off his own hand. 
 
 Shabbir Ahmed was delivering a sermon at a village mosque in the east of Pakistan's Punjab province when he told the gathering those who love the Prophet Mohammad always say their prayers before asking who, among the crowd, had stopped praying and did not love the prophet. 
 
 Local police chief Nausher Ahmed told Reuters news agency that Mohammad Anwar, mishearing the question, raised his hand. The imam quickly singled him out and called him a "blasphemer" in front of the congregation. 
 
 Anwar went home and cut off his hand - an act welcomed by his father who told police he was proud of his son and did not want the imam arrested. 
 
 The boy presented his arm to the imam on a plate, said Nausher who added he saw a video in which the boy was greeted by villagers in the street as his parents proclaimed their pride. 
 
 READ MORE: Campaigning to reform Pakistan's deadly blasphemy law 
 
 The incident took place at a village in Hujra Shah Muqeem town, about 125km south of Punjab's capital Lahore. 
 
 Police filed anti-terrorism charges against Shabbir and arrested him on Saturday. 
 
 "Such illiterate imams of mosques should not be allowed to deliver speeches," Nausher said. "His arrest is under the National Action Plan that hate speeches inciting violence are no longer allowed in this country." 
 
 Blasphemy is a highly controversial issue in Pakistan, and angry mobs have killed many people accused of insulting Islam in the Muslim-majority country. 
 
 The law does not define blasphemy but stipulates that the penalty is death, although a death sentence has never been carried out. 
 
 Since 1990, more than 65 people have been extrajudicially killed as a result of blasphemy cases. ||||| ISLAMABAD Pakistani police have arrested the imam of a mosque for inciting violence after a 15-year old boy who was told by the cleric that he was a blasphemer went home and cut off his own hand. 
 
 Shabbir ​Ahmed was delivering a sermon at a village in the east of Punjab province when he asked the gathering if anyone did not love the Prophet Mohammad. 
 
 Mishearing the question, the 15-year old boy raised his hand. Ahmed quickly singled him out and called him a "blasphemer" in front of the congregation, Nosher Ali, the head of the local police station, told Reuters on Sunday. 
 
 After returning home, the boy cut his hand off, an act welcomed by the boy's father who told police he was proud of his son and did not want the cleric arrested. 
 
 Police filed anti-terrorism charges against Ahmed and arrested him on Saturday, police chief Ali said. 
 
 "Such illiterate imams of mosques should not be allowed to deliver speeches. His arrest is under the National Action Plan that hate speeches inciting violence are no longer allowed in this country," Ali said.​​ 
 
 Blasphemy is a highly controversial issue in Pakistan, and angry mobs have killed many people accused of insulting Islam in the majority Muslim country. 
 
 The law does not define blasphemy but stipulates that the penalty is death, although a death sentence has never been carried out. Human rights activists say accusations of blasphemy are sky rocketing because the law is often abused to settle personal grudges. 
 
 (Reporting by Tommy Wilkes and Amjad Ali; Editing by Gareth Jones)
– It was a simple misunderstanding of a question asked by a holy man, but it cost a 15-year-old Pakistani boy his hand, and landed an imam under arrest. Imam Shabbir Ahmed was giving a sermon at a mosque in Punjab province, reports al Jazeera, when he asked his congregation who among them did not love the prophet Mohammed. Mishearing, 15-year-old Mohammed Anwar raised his hand, reports Reuters, and was immediately singled out by Ahmed as a "blasphemer." The boy went home, and reportedly with his father's approval, cut off his own hand to atone for his imagined sin; he later presented the limb to the imam on a plate, reports the AFP. All of which landed Ahmed under arrest Saturday evening on charges of inciting violence; he's due in court on Monday. "Such illiterate imams of mosques should not be allowed to deliver speeches," the local police chief tells Reuters. "His arrest is under the National Action Plan that hate speeches inciting violence are no longer allowed in this country." Blasphemy is a hotly debated topic in Pakistan, note the news agencies: It is not defined under Pakistani law, but the penalty is death, though that has never been enforced.