Police arrest 60 suspects in Nankana Sahib lynching case

 The Nankana Sahib police arrested 60 suspects involved in the lynching of a man outside the police station on Saturday morning, reports Dawn.

Several police teams launched a massive crackdown at the residences, business points, and other places to round up the suspects.

Sheikhupura Regional Police Officer (RPO) Babar Sarfraz Alpa said that the police were very clear in its action against the attackers whether they were from any religious organsation or a political party.

Mob storms police station, kills man accused of blasphemy

A violent mob stormed a police station in Nankana Sahib on Saturday, dragging out a man accused of committing blasphemy before burning him to death.

The man had been accused of desecrating the Holy Quran.

Inspector General (IG) of Punjab Police, Dr Usman Anwar, suspended Nankana Sahib Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police Nawaz Waraq and Warburton Station House Officer (SHO) Feroz Bhatti. The SHO and other police personnel allegedly ran away from the mob, trying to save their own lives.

آئی جی پنجاب کا ننکانہ میں شہریوں کی جانب سے قرآن کی بے حرمتی کے الزام میں شہری کی ہلاکت کے واقعہ کا نوٹس۔اعلیٰ افسران کو موقعہ پر پہنچ کر انکوائری رپورٹ پیش کرنے کا حکم۔
واقعہ کے ذمہ داروں جبکہ غفلت اور کوتاہی کے مرتکب کے خلاف سخت محکمانہ اور قانونی کاروائی عمل میں لائی جائے گی pic.twitter.com/DZsRIQHzHt

— Punjab Police Official (@OfficialDPRPP) February 11, 2023

Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif also took notice of the incident.

“Why didn’t the police stop the violent mob? The rule of law should be ensured. No one should be allowed to influence the law,” he was quoted as saying in a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi has condemned the incident, saying killing and burning someone accused of blasphemy is a cruel act.

This is not the first time that a mob has burnt a man to death on the suspicion of blasphemy. In 2021, Sri Lan­kan engineer Piryantha Kumara was burned to death on the alleged charges of blasphemy by his own factory workers in Sialkot. In 2017, Mashal Khan, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University was lynched by his peers within the premises of the institution on the same accusations.