Swat, June 24: Police claimed to have arrested the main suspect in the Swat lynching incident where a mob killed man over alleged desecration of the holy Quran, even as 40 individuals arrested in connection with the incident in Madyan were presented in court.
According to police, the suspect was presented in court for a remand hearing, after which he will be presented before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the incident.
Police stated that the suspect had recorded a video statement after the mob lynching of a man and burning of his body on Thursday, which went viral on social media.
The 40 arrested individuals face charges under various sections of the law, including terrorism.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly on Sunday passed a resolution condemning the incidents of mob lynching in various parts of the country.
The resolution, moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, emphasised that the right to life was the most cherished right enshrined in the Constitution. “Every person is to be dealt with in accordance with the law and not otherwise,” it stated.
A violent mob lynched a 40-year-old man and set his body on fire over alleged desecration of the holy Quran in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat on Thursday. The crowd also torched the police station from where they dragged the man to the streets.
It has also come to light that loudspeakers were ‘used to instigate people’ in Swat mob lynching case.
According to Aaj News, some motorcyclists used loudspeakers in addition to announcements being made in mosques to instigate people in Swat to lynch the person.
The man accused of blasphemy has been identified as a resident of Sialkot, Punjab, who was staying at a hotel in Madyan as a tourist.
Human rights activist Zigar Sher mentioned the area’s conservative society, describing it as “favourable” where people’s religious sentiments were provoked to trigger chaos and used for personal use.
He said it has not been ascertained whether blasphemy was committed or not. Sher lamented that all the key evidence had gone after the police station was torched.
The human rights activist was wary of the investigation and outcome, saying that the institutions might refrain from taking action in fear of riots.
Peter Jacob, the executive director of the Centre for Social Justice, called for fair trial and investigation and mentioned that suspects were released by courts in similar cases because of their young age.
The Swat DPO said the case was registered against 49 known and 2,500 unknown accused named in the FIR, and added that suspects have to be identified through technical evidence and human intelligence.
