Pak police detain 85 prime suspects after determining their role in Sri Lankan man's lynching

| | Lahore
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Pak police detain 85 prime suspects after determining their role in Sri Lankan man's lynching

Thursday, 30 December 2021 | PTI | Lahore

Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province on Wednesday said they have detained 85 main suspects after determining their role in brutal lynching of a Sri Lankan national in Sialkot city earlier this month. 

In a shocking incident, a mob of 800 men, including supporters of radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), attacked a garment factory in Sialkot on December 3 and lynched its 49-year-old general manager - Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana - before setting his body on fire over allegations of blasphemy.

 "Currently 85 main suspects whose role has been identified through video footages and investigation in brutal lynching of Priyantha Kumara are detained on physical remand,” an official of  Punjab police told PTI on Wednesday.

The official said over 100 other suspects were also included in investigation but no evidence of their involvement in case was detected, thus they were not named in the FIR and some of them who were detained were released.

“We want to present a strong case against prime suspects in court and investigation teams are working hard on it,” he said, adding police will submit investigation report against 85 detained suspects in anti-terrorism court likely at end of next month.

On Tuesday, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti directed Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Omar Saeed Malik to complete investigation of suspects and submit the report to the court at the earliest so that the trial in the case could begin.

 DPO Malik gave a detailed briefing to the chief justice on the progress made so far in the lynching case of the Sri Lankan citizen. The Sialkot District Bar Association has already announced not to represent the suspects. "No lawyer will pursue the case on behalf of the suspects," the bar said in a statement.

The business community has collected USD 100,000 for the family of Kumara. The factory management has also decided to send the monthly salary of the deceased to his family.

The federal or the provincial government has yet to announce any compensation package for the victim's family so far.    Kumara was working as general manager in the Rajko industries (dealing in garments – sportswear) in Sialkot district for over seven years. The incident sparked outrage across Pakistan with all sections of society condemning it and calling for the culprits to be punished. Pakistan's Senate on Friday passed an unanimous resolution condemning the lynching.

The Sri Lankan Parliament, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have condemned the brutal killing and expressed hope that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's government would bring the guilty to justice.  

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