Pakistani police have arrested a Hindu couple accused of desecrating the Quran, Islam's holy book, police said on Saturday.

The couple was arrested on Friday in Sawabi, a deeply conservative town in northwestern Pakistan, after residents told the police they had thrown pages from the Quran around a field. If convicted, they could face a death sentence.

"Yes, a Hindu man and his wife are in our custody and we are interrogating them to determine whether they desecrated the Quran," Sajjad Khan, a local police official said, without giving further details.

Shahbaz Bhatti, head of the All Pakistan Minorities' Alliance, called the allegations against the couple 'a pack of lies' and said they had been falsely accused. He also asked the government to set up a judicial commission to probe the case.

Bhatti's organisation works to protect minority groups in Muslim-majority Pakistan and has been critical of blasphemy laws, which he says are often applied against minorities. Under the laws, people accused of insulting Islam, the prophet Mohammed or the Quran can be sentenced to death.

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