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.
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.
