Key suspects in Swat mob attack arrested
A mob beat the man to death on Thursday night after accusing him of burning pages of the Holy Quran. They set the police station in the area ablaze and injured eight policemen. SCREENGRAB
Police arrested the three main accused involved in the killing of a person after accusing him of committee blasphemy in tourist resort of Madyan in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last week, the district police officer confirmed on Wednesday.
The Swat DPO said that so far, 30 people had been arrested for being part of the mob that attacked and torched the police station, killed the blasphemy suspect and dragged his body through the streets of the town on June 20.
“There have been 30 arrests so far, including three main suspects, over the killing of a tourist in Madyan,” the DPO said, while dilating on the progress in the investigation into the incident.
He identified the three main suspects as Yasir, Ghafran and Qari Inamur Rehman.
On Thursday, some people caught the suspect, accusing him of blasphemy. The suspect was later handed over to the police, who locked him up in the local police station. Later, thousands of people gathered outside the police station, demanding that the police hand over the suspect to them.
On refusal, a fierce exchange of fire took place between the local people and the police.
Later, the people entered the police station and killed the suspect and dragged his body to the Madyan Ada. The people also set the police station and police vehicles on fire.
The DPO said that those who would take the law into their own hands did not deserve any leniency. “The process of identification of all those involved in the mob attack is ongoing and they will be brought to justice very soon,” he added.