Investigation launched into Madyan mob lynching

MINGORA: The police on Friday formally launched investigation into the Madyan mob lynching incident after registering the first information report (FIR).

Regional Police Officer, Malakand Region, Mohammad Ali visited the Madyan Police Station, which was torched by an angry mob after a man was accused of desecrating the Holy Quran. The police had taken the man belonging to Punjab into custody on the charges of blasphemy but the angry mob made announcements from mosques using loudspeakers asking the local people to converge on the police station. The crowd set on fire the police station building and the vehicles parked there. The people also lynched the man who had been accused of blasphemy. The regional police officer directed the officials to identify the people who had torched the building of the police station and the vehicles. The RPO directed the police to ensure transparency in the investigation.

The shopkeepers at Madyan Bazaar had brought down the shutters and the Kalam-Madyan Road was blocked in protest. Meanwhile, the Kalam-Madyan Road was reopened to traffic while the Madyan Bazaar partially opened. The police said that normalcy had started returning to the town after the lynching incident. The police had deployed additional cops to ensure law and order and bring the situation under control. It was learnt that 11 civilians and five policemen were injured in the mayhem.

It may be mentioned that a mob lynched a man, who was accused of committing blasphemy. Though the man had been detained for his alleged desecration of the Holy Quran, the angry mob stormed the police station when the cops refused to hand him over to the crowd. The police officials, who fired into the air to disperse the people, fled the scene to save themselves as the people outnumbered the cops.

The people torched the man, the police station and the vehicles parked on the premises. The situation took an ugly turn when the people came to know that a man had allegedly desecrated the Holy Quran. Within no time, a large number of people gathered outside the police station, demanding the cops to hand him over, but the police refused, prompting the mob to storm the police station.

Later, reinforcements were sent to the area to bring the situation under control. However, the people had burnt the man alive by then. The suspect, it was learnt, belonged to Punjab and was visiting the Swat valley as a tourist. He was staying at a hotel in Madyan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had taken notice of the incident and directed the provincial police chief to submit a report about it. He asked the inspector general of the police to take steps to control the situation in the wake of the mob attack.