Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday vowed that the culprits involved in the lynching of a man over blasphemy allegations in Mian Channu would be "dealt with [the] full severity of the law" along with police officials who had "failed in their duty".
The tweet by the premier came a day after a mob brutally lynched a mentally challenged man in Mian Channu city of Khanewal district over allegedly burning pages of the Holy Quran.
His body was later hung from a tree whereas the police allegedly played the role of silent spectators.
PM Imran maintained that the government had "zero tolerance" for such incidents and that he had asked the Punjab police chief to take action against the "perpetrators of the lynching in Mian Channu” as well as the “police [officials] who failed in their duty".
The police have taken 62 accused, including primary suspects, into custody as well as registered a case under terrorism charges against more than 300 people.
In an initial report submitted to the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Punjab IG Rao Sardar said a terrorism case was registered against 300 unknown suspects, whereas 33 people were nominated in the case as well.
He added that the police had conducted 120 raids and detained 62 people, including primary suspects.
The report further read that the police would conduct forensic analysis of the available footage to identify more suspects.
The arrests, made through secret operations, came on the directives of the Punjab CM and IG. The police were conducting further raids to arrest more suspects, as per the report.
CM Buzdar said the government would provide justice in the case as no one could be allowed to take the law into their hands.
The Punjab police later tweeted that they had arrested 15 primary suspects in the case. A total of 85 citizens had been rounded up so far and the process to identify more primary suspects was under way.
In a statement, the Punjab police spokesperson said the arrested individuals were seen torturing the victim with sticks and hurling bricks in videos of the incident. He added that the suspects had been charged with heinous offence and terrorism.
"Work is under way to identify and arrest more suspects with the help of CCTV footage," he added, saying that the police were also conducting raids.
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“The Punjab inspector general and chief minister are personally overseeing the operation. Those who take the law into their own hands would be punished under the law.”
Separately, Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, while addressing a news conference in Khanewal, condemned the Mian Channu incident in the strongest terms.
Ashrafi, who is the special aide to the prime minister on interfaith harmony, said the people involved in the sad incident of ruthlessly killing a man would be brought to justice at all costs.
The PUC chairman added it was not the responsibility of any individual to punish a person, who had indeed committed any blunder.
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“It is jurisdiction of the government to penalise a culprit after completing all the constitutional requirements”.
He said the clerics of all schools of thought had already condemned such incidents. “The government machinery is in action and the culprits will be arrested soon.”
Ashrafi further said the victim in Mian Channu was suffering from a mental illness for 15 years.
This is not the first incident of citizens becoming judges, jury and executioners. In November last year, a mob had vandalised 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.
A month later, a Sri Lankan factory manager was brutally lynched by a mob in Sialkot and his body was set on fire.
The gut-wrenching incident took place on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road, where workers of private factories brutally lynched Priyantha Kumara over allegedly committing blasphemy.
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