IGP suspends two officers who fled police station and failed to prevent lynching

NANKANA SAHIB/LAHORE     -     An angry mob Saturday attacked a police station in Punjab’s Nankana Sahib District and killed a man detained in the lock up on allegations of blasphemy.

According to local residents and police sources, a 35-yearold man arrested over blasphemy allegations was lynched in Nankana Sahib District on Saturday after a mob broke into the police station. The horrific clip of the incident went viral on social media following the attack.

Taking strong notice of the latest mob lynching incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an investigation into the ‘extra judicial killing’.

Police sources said hundreds of people had descended on the police station in Nankana Sahib on Saturday. The crowd then stormed the building and lynched the man accused of desecrating the holy Quran. Video uploaded to social media showed hundreds of men in front of the police station and then vandalising the building. Punjab Inspector-General of Police Usman Anwar suspended two senior police officers who fled the scene and failed to prevent the lynching, a police spokesperson said. “No one is allowed to take the law into their hands, no matter how influential they are,” the police chief was quoted as saying.

According to officials, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the extra judicial killing of a person at Nankana Sahib police station and questioned as to why the police did not stop the violent mob. He said the rule of law should be ensured and that nobody should be allowed to influence the law. He said maintaining law and order should be ensured as a first priority.

“Those involved in the brutal murder should be arrested,” said Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, religious scholar and chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim bodies.

Mob attacks against people accused of blasphemy are not rare in country. Rights groups say such accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities or settle personal scores.

In February 2022 in Khanewal, Punjab, a mob stoned to death Mushtaq Ahmed, who had been diagnosed with a mental disorder, for allegedly desecrating the Koran, the rights group added.