80-year-old acquitted of blasphemy shot dead

Butt’s plaintiff, unhappy with the acquittal, shot him outside his home.

LAHORE: An elderly man, recently released from prison after acquittal by a court on proving innocent in a blasphemy case, was shot dead by the complainant in Sheikhupura.

Eighty-year-old Iqbal Butt was on his way home on a rickshaw when he was shot dead in the city’s Farooqabad locality. Two men, including his accuser Maulvi Waqas and an unidentified accomplice, chased him on a motorcycle and opened fire, resulting in his death.

Javed Butt, a stepson of Iqbal Butt, said that Maulvi Waqas accused his father of blasphemy just to settle a score with him after they exchanged harsh words during an argument earlier on. The accused pressurised the police through protest of clerics and succeeded in registering a case against Iqbal, added Javed.

After the case was registered, the police imprisoned Iqbal, but on December 30, 2011 he was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

SHO PS city Farooqabad, Inspector Muhammad Idrees, while talking to The Express Tribune said that during the course of investigation, the deceased was found innocent.

The local Ulema committee of the city, who conducted an independent inquiry upon Butt’s family’s request, also declared him innocent.

On the basis of both reports, the court dropped charges against Butt and released him.

“The complainant, Maulvi Waqas, a Khateeb of a local mosque, was unhappy with the acquittal and he, along with an unknown accomplice, shot Iqbal Butt,” the Investigation Officer (IO) Sub Inspector Javed Mehmood said.

A case has been registered against Waqas and his unidentified accomplice but no arrests have been made so far. According to the police, raids are being conducted to find the accused.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2012.