Bloody murder: Basic elements of spiritual by-pass surgery
Pir who uses animal organs in ‘spiritual transplants’ booked for murder of client.
MULTAN:
On Saturday, Raha Rampur Moza Qureshi Qala resident pir Asghar Abbas was arrested for charging an average of Rs30-50,000 for healing pilgrims at his dera.
Abbas would slaughter a goat, cow or sheep based on how much a client paid for the ‘operation’ and then use the animal’s organ to treat corresponding organs in his patients. “If a person is suffering from heart disease then a butcher at the dera will slaughter a goat or a cow’s heart,” Abbas told police. “I use the animal’s heart and place it above the patient’s heart. Then I draw out the disease into the animal organ and the patient is cured,” he said. On Saturday Abbas and two of his disciples killed a rickshaw driver for refusing to pay for one of his procedures. “This man had come to me and asked me to heal him. I did that but he later refused to pay me Rs80,000 that he owed me,” Abbas told police. Abbas’s accomplice Nadeem admitted to killing the rickshaw driver and said that he had been searching for the driver for several days. Nadeem said that he had been working with Abbas for several years. “I have seen him cure dozens of people of terminal diseases. He is no murderer. Nazeer Ahmed was a thief and he stole our money,” he said.
Rickshaw driver Nazeer Ahmed’s family approached the police to file a case against Abbas. “I went to the police and told them about what had happened. This man has been exploiting people in the area with impunity and no one has stopped him,” Ahmed’s brother Haroon told police officials. Haroon said that Abbas was being supported by a local landlord Khuda Bukhsh Joiya and that Joiya had given the man protection. “A few years back Abbas treated Joiya and after the latter was convinced of his ‘powers’ he set him up in the dera and pays him to see other patients,” Haroon said.
Shujabaad Station House Officer (SHO) Abdullah Muhammad said that he had registered a case against Abbas and taken him into custody. “He has a pretty big clientele and we had to turn away dozens of people from the dera. The place was filthy as he saw patients at the same place where he sacrificed the animals,” the SHO said. “We are investigating further and will close down this dera permanently,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2011.
On Saturday, Raha Rampur Moza Qureshi Qala resident pir Asghar Abbas was arrested for charging an average of Rs30-50,000 for healing pilgrims at his dera.
Abbas would slaughter a goat, cow or sheep based on how much a client paid for the ‘operation’ and then use the animal’s organ to treat corresponding organs in his patients. “If a person is suffering from heart disease then a butcher at the dera will slaughter a goat or a cow’s heart,” Abbas told police. “I use the animal’s heart and place it above the patient’s heart. Then I draw out the disease into the animal organ and the patient is cured,” he said. On Saturday Abbas and two of his disciples killed a rickshaw driver for refusing to pay for one of his procedures. “This man had come to me and asked me to heal him. I did that but he later refused to pay me Rs80,000 that he owed me,” Abbas told police. Abbas’s accomplice Nadeem admitted to killing the rickshaw driver and said that he had been searching for the driver for several days. Nadeem said that he had been working with Abbas for several years. “I have seen him cure dozens of people of terminal diseases. He is no murderer. Nazeer Ahmed was a thief and he stole our money,” he said.
Rickshaw driver Nazeer Ahmed’s family approached the police to file a case against Abbas. “I went to the police and told them about what had happened. This man has been exploiting people in the area with impunity and no one has stopped him,” Ahmed’s brother Haroon told police officials. Haroon said that Abbas was being supported by a local landlord Khuda Bukhsh Joiya and that Joiya had given the man protection. “A few years back Abbas treated Joiya and after the latter was convinced of his ‘powers’ he set him up in the dera and pays him to see other patients,” Haroon said.
Shujabaad Station House Officer (SHO) Abdullah Muhammad said that he had registered a case against Abbas and taken him into custody. “He has a pretty big clientele and we had to turn away dozens of people from the dera. The place was filthy as he saw patients at the same place where he sacrificed the animals,” the SHO said. “We are investigating further and will close down this dera permanently,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2011.