PESHAWAR: On Thursday, Pakistani police arrested 14 individuals in overnight raids, after a Hindu temple was demolished and set on fire by a mob led by a religious party, according to officials.

The temple's desecration on Wednesday, in the Northwestern town on Karak, drew condemnation from advocacy groups, human rights activists and the country's minority Hindu community.

According to local police, 14 people have been detained in overnight raids, and more raids were underway to arrest the set of individuals who either participated in the demolition of the temple, or in provoking the mob to do so.

The attack took place in the aftermath of the Hindu community receiving permission from local authorities to renovate the temple, and according to witnesses, the mob was led by a local cleric and supporters of the country's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party.

Pakistan Minister for Religious Affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri called the attack on the temple "a conspiracy against sectarian harmony", adding that attacks on places of worship of minority religious groups are not allowed in Islam and “protection of religious freedom of minorities is our religious, constitutional, moral and national responsibility".