(Karachi) The Supreme Court (SC) has sought a timeframe from authorities to rebuild Hindu shrine in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Karak area, local media reported on Monday. The court also directed authorities to ask those who vandalised the the shrine to pay money for its restoration.

During proceedings, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed stated: "At least 119 people were arrested for destroying and desecrating the temple. Ask them to pay and use the money for temple restoration."

Justice Gulzar remarked that recovery has not been made from those responsible for the Karak temple attack. "Once people are made to pay then no one will even think about such a thing again," Justice Ijazul Ahsan said.

The additional attorney general told the court that the KP government has allocated R34 million for the restoration work. Justice Ahsan ordered that the restoration work should start immediately.

The court has summoned the chairperson of the Evacuee Property Trust Board at the next hearing and asked him to provide a time frame for the completion of the construction. The case has been adjourned till February 15.

On December 30, 2020, a historic Hindu temple was set ablaze in Karak district. The Krishna Dwara temple is situated in Teri union council. It came under attack by hundreds of miscreants who set fire to the building.

The miscreants surrounded and vandalised the temple for hours but the police were missing from the scene.

Advocate Rohit Kumar, a representative of the Hindu community, said the residents violated the agreement by vandalising the temple.

But Muslim residents of the area claimed that the Hindu community was illegally expanding the temple building. They said the matter was reported to the police too.

Later, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed took notice of the incident and ordered the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to reconstruct the temple, remove encroachments from temples from across the country, and take action against officials involved in the encroachments.