The Punjab police on Sunday identified and arrested six more of the main alleged culprits involved in the lynching of a 49-year-old Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot over blasphemy allegations.
A mob comprising hundreds of protestors, including the employees of the factory he was the manager, had tortured him to death on Friday and later burnt his body
The FIR was registered against 900 workers of the Industries on the application of Station House Officer under sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act
The applicant admitted that the protesters had slapped, kicked, punched, and hit the Manager with sticks in his presence, and dragged him out of the factory on Wazirabad Road where he died. They then set the body on fire. The SHO said he was helpless in front of the mob owing to a shortage of personnel
Over the past two days, the police had arrested scores, to which six more primary suspects have been added, according to an update shared on Twitter today. The suspects were traced using CCTV footage and mobile phone data. "The suspects were hiding at the homes of their friends and relatives," the statement said
The police added that out of the 124 people arrested, 19 played a "central role" in the brutal killing
The statement added that the process of identifying those that instigated the violence is currently underway. "Punjab Chief Minister and IG Rao are personally monitoring the entire investigation process," the statement said.
Editorial It is indeed a day of shame for Pakistan
District Police Officer said that raids were still being carried out to arrest more suspects
Punjab Chief Minister said the investigation was being taken forward scientifically. He also directed the prosecution secretary to follow the case
Meanwhile, 13 of the main suspects were produced in a criminal court and subsequently remanded in police custody for one day. The suspects were identified as Farhan Idrees, Saboor Butt, Talha, Abdul Rehman, Imran, Taimur, Shoaib, Raheel, Usman, Shahzaib, Nasir, Ehtisham, and Junaid.
They have produced in the court of a judge. The accused will be produced before the Gujranwala anti-terrorism court tomorrow.
Another video surfaced of a colleague trying to intervene
Meanwhile, another video has surfaced of a man, reportedly the Manager's colleague, trying to placate the mob and reason with it
The colleague can be heard telling the mob that General Manager is a non-Muslim and "didn't know what was written on the paper". He tried to assure the charged mob that General Manager would be removed from the factory and an FIR would be registered
However, the crowd drowned out his pleas and refused to listen. A day earlier, footage shot before the lynching showed the same colleague trying to protect General Manger on the roof of the factory where he had fled while the mob of around two dozen people slowly grew in number
In that video, some among the mob can be heard chanting slogans and saying "he (the manager) will not escape today," while the colleague tried to shield the Manger with his body, who clung to the man's legs
The workers had later overpowered the colleague and dragged the Sri Lankan out on the road and tortured him with kicks, stones, and iron rods, killing him on the spot. The mob had then set the body on fire
On Saturday, Sialkot Deputy Commissioner said Manger’s body had been transported to a Lahore hospital in a Rescue 1122 ambulance amid tight security. After fulfilling formalities, it would be sent to Colombo.
Wife seeks justice
Quoting unidentified police sources, Geo TV said some factory workers disliked the deceased general manager, a textile engineer, for being strict in enforcing discipline. After a routine inspection on Friday morning, Manger had snubbed the sanitary staff over poor work. The channel further reported that as the factory was about to undergo a whitewash, the manager started removing posters from walls. As one of the posters was an invitation to a religious moot, some workers objected to it
The channel’s sources said, the Manager offered an apology, but a supervisor instigated the workers, who attacked him. Manger ran to the roof and tried to hide under solar panels, but the enraged workers got hold of him and killed him there and then, Manger’s grieving wife, has pleaded with both Pakistani and Sri Lankan leaders for justice for her slain husband
“My husband was an innocent man. I found out from the news that after working abroad for so long, he had been brutally murdered. I saw on the internet how inhuman the killing was. I appeal to the Sri Lankan president and the Pakistani prime minister and president to conduct a fair investigation so my husband and our two children get justice,” she said while speaking to BBC Sinhala
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan news website, Newswire, quoted Colombo’s High Commissioner in Pakistan Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama as saying that arrangements were being made to transport Manager remains from Lahore to Colombo on a special flight on Monday.
Our heads hang in shame, but there is a ray of hope: Minister of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan
Information Minister has said the Sialkot incident brought shame to all Pakistanis but found hope in widespread condemnation
"The reaction from Pakistanis, however, also showed a ray of hope for us," the minister said while flanked by Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination and Special Assistant to the PM on Youth Affairs Usman in a press conference today
Information Minister said Pakistan was a "progressive country" that is "way ahead of many countries as our institutions and democracy are strong"
The minister said statements from PML-N's and Mustafa showed some political parties' leadership was cognizant of the looming danger of [religious extremism] and is willing to confront it.
Prime Minister Imran conveys 'nation's anger, shame' to Sri Lanka.
Later, Prime Minister Imran Khan said he had spoken to the Sri Lankan President "to convey our nation's anger and shame to the people of Sri Lanka at the vigilante killing of the Manger in Sialkot"
"I informed him that over 100 people [have been] arrested and assured him they would be prosecuted with the full severity of the law," the premier tweeted
Prime Minister Imran's tweet came after the Sri Lankan Prime Minister said he was shocked by the brutal and fatal attack on the manager and expressed the hope that the former would fulfill his commitment to penalize3 those involved in the killing
"My heart goes out to his wife and family. #SriLanka and her people are confident that PM [Imran Khan] will keep to his commitment to bring all those involved to justice," he tweeted
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