Police arrests second cleric for allegedly leading mob attack on Christian couple

Police say they are still looking for a barber who allegedly ingnited the entire issue

LAHORE: Police on Friday arrested a second cleric who is accused of leading a lynch mob against a Christian couple in Makki village, a senior officer said.

"One of the clerics who led the mob, demanding the arrest of the couple and their death, was at large, he was arrested today (Friday) and we are looking for a barber who ignited the whole issue," Sohail Zafar Chattha, the district police chief, told AFP.

Another cleric was arrested earlier in the week.

The couple – a labourer and his wife – were beaten up after local clerics accused them of committing blasphemy.

Read: Police save Christian couple from lynch mob

When the police were informed of the incident, DPO Sohail Zafar Chattha ordered rescuing the couple at all costs. By the time the DPO arrived on the scene, a large number of people from the neighbouring villages had also poured into Makki, with hundreds of policemen surrounding the village.

A local told The Express Tribune that “we hadn’t seen many of the people in the village before, and we didn’t know where they had come from either”.