NANKANA SAHIB, Pakistan: The infuriated mob brutally killed a blasphemy accused outside a Police Station in Nankana Sahib, reflecting the growing intolerance and lawlessness in the society as the incidents of same nature continue to occur unabatedly.
The incident took place in Warburton Police Station in Nankana Sahib.
The ill-fated person was accused of desecrating the Holy Quran.
Total madness!!! An angry mob attacked the police station in Nankana Sahib. Reportedly an accused of blasphemy was killed and body burnt by the mob. Apparently police was unable to control the situation. pic.twitter.com/1kdNGFmqro
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) February 11, 2023
Meanwhile, the Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr. Usman Anwar suspended the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Nankana Sahib Circle Nawaz Virk and Station House Officer (SHO) Warburton Fairoz Bhatti were suspended over their failure to prevent the mob lynching.
The IG Police directed the Internal Accountability Branch Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Muhammad Amin Bukhari and Special Branch DIG Raja Faisal to reach the scene and submit the inquiry report.
Dr. Usman Anwar said that no one would never allow anybody to take law into his hand, no matter how influential or powerful he is.
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
Taking notice of the extra judicial killing of a person at Nankana Sahib Police Station, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered an investigation into the incident. He questioned as to why the police did not stop the violent mob.
The prime minister said that rule of law should be ensured and that nobody should be allowed to influence the law. He said that maintaining law and order should be ensured as a first priority.
It’s not the first time that such highly reprehensible incident has been witnessed in the Country especially in Punjab.
On February 15 last year, a mob tortured and killed a mentally challenged man accused of burning pages of the Holy Quran in Mian Channu City of Punjab’s Khanewal District.
A 49-year-old Sri Lankan national named Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, who had been serving as the Manager of a Factory, was tortured to death by a mob over blasphemy allegations on December 3, 2021 in Sialkot.
Likewise in November 2021, a mob 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.
The Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi condemned the incident, saying it was regrettable the way the charged mob attacked the blasphemy accused.
“Inhuman torture and killing the person, accused of blaspheming the Holy Quran in Nankana Sahib and attacking at the police station is regrettable and condemnable. — Pakistan Ulema Council,” Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi wrote on Twitter.
Inhuman torture and killing the person, accused of blaspheming the Holy Quran in #Nankana Sahib and attacking at the police station is regrettable and condemnable.
Pakistan Ulema Council pic.twitter.com/9WbPHcLGRK— TahirMahmoodAshrafi حافظ محمد طاهراشرفى (@TahirAshrafi) February 11, 2023
