Two senior police officers were suspended over negligence after Punjab Inspector-General Dr Usman Anwar took notice of a mob lynching of a man accused of committing blasphemy in Nankana Sahib, a police statement confirmed Saturday.
The suspension of Nankana Sahib Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police Nawaz Waraq and Warburton Station House Officer Feroz Bhatti came after videos circulating on social media purportedly showed a violent mob outside a police station in Nankana Sahib.
The officers have been ordered to reach the spot and submit an inquiry report.
Strict departmental and legal action will be taken against those responsible for the incident and the perpetrators of negligence, a statement posted by the Punjab police on Twitter read.
In one video, an angry mob can be seen climbing the gates of what appears to be the Warburton police station and then storming inside the building.
Policemen on site, including the SHO, reportedly flee the police station to save their lives, while the accused man was locked up inside.
It is being reported that the man had returned after spending two years in jail. Residents of the area alleged that the man used to practice witchcraft by pasting his ex-wife's picture on holy papers.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an investigation into the Warburton police station incident and asked why the police did not stop the violent mob.
"The rule of law should be ensured, no one should be allowed to influence the law," he said.
He said that the first priority of the institutions responsible for peace and order is peace and that it should always come first.
Punjab caretaker CM seeks report
Mohsin Naqvi, the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, asked for a report from the IG on the incident, directing an investigating from every aspect.
He instructed that legal action be taken against those who take the law into their own hands.
Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, meanwhile, condemned the incident, saying killing and burning someone accused of blasphemy is a cruel act.
"Inhuman torture and killing the person, accused of blaspheming the Holy Quran in #Nankana Sahib and attacking at the police station is regrettable and condemnable," he wrote on Twitter.
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