Police have taken 62 suspects, including the prime accused, into custody in connection with a lynching of a “mentally challenged” man in Khanewal over allegations of blasphemy.
A day earlier, a mob in Khanewal district tortured and killed a man accused of burning pages of the Holy Quran. As per details, the local police, in order to prevent themselves, had allegedly allowed the accused to leave the police station in Mian Chunnu where the mob was present.
In an initial report submitted to the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Punjab IG Rao Sardar said a terrorism case was registered against 300 unknown suspects whereas 33 persons were nominated in the case as well.
It said the police made 120 raids and detained 62 suspects, adding that the detained accused also included the prime suspects. The police will conduct forensic analysis of available footage to identify more suspects.
The arrests made through secret operations came after the directives of the Punjab CM and IG. Police are making raids to arrest more suspects, as per the report.
CM Buzdar said the government will provide justice in the case as no one can be allowed to take the law into their hands.
This is not the first incident of citizens becoming judges, jury and executioners. In November last year, a mob had vandalized a police station in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda district and set it on fire after authorities refused to hand over a man arrested earlier for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran.
A month after, a Sri Lankan national was brutally lynched and his body was set on fire by a mob in Sialkot.
The gut-wrenching incident took place on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road, where workers of private factories brutally lynched the Sri Lankan national, Priyantha Kumara, over alleged blasphemy.
