Lynching by mob: Investigators visit Madyan to collect evidence

PESHAWAR: An inquiry committee as well as a joint investigation team (JIT) visited Madyan Tehsil in Swat district on Saturday to collect evidence about the mob lynching of a tourist over alleged desecration of Holy Quran. 

An official said Additional Inspector General Special Branch Kashif Alam and Additional IGP Investigation Alam Shinwari visited the place of the incident and collected evidence from the room of a local hotel where the deceased Sulaiman, a resident of Sialkot, was staying.

The joint investigation team under Superintendent of Police Investigation Badshah Hazrat was constituted that will have members from Intelligence Bureau, Special Branch and other departments.

Meanwhile, a federal agency in its initial report, according to Geo News, mentioned that the deceased Sulaiman had denied desecrating the Holy Quran when he was taken into custody.

The report continued that taking Sulaiman to the police station was a blunder as the mob reached there and set him on fire though the cops did their best to protect him.

According to the report, the station house officer concerned neither sought guidance from his senior officer nor shifted the suspect to a safe location. It said that keeping the suspect at the police station was a serious lapse on part of the police. The suspect remained at the lockup for around 40 minutes and during this period, he denied disrespecting the Holy Quran, the report added. It said the cops bravely faced the mob and tried their best to control the situation. However, the absence of senior police officials and political leaders led to the loss.

The report said that an exchange of fire also took place between the mob and police during which 11 people and five cops sustained injuries. The mob set on fire the building of the police station, a police van, five other vehicles and two motorcycles. The DSP office and SHO quarters were also damaged in the mayhem.

“We are still investigating the case and senior level teams visited the place and collected evidence on Saturday,” District Police Officer Swat Dr Zahidullah told The News. He expressed ignorance about any such report, saying the investigation in the case was still going on and its report will be sent to the IGP as well as the government.