PESHAWAR, May 14: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal lawmakers have urged the federal government to end diplomatic ties with Germany in protest over the death of a Pakistani student in German police custody.

“This is a cold-blooded murder of a lover of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and should not go unnoticed,” Provincial Minister Hafiz Hashmat told hundreds of people gathered to offer funeral prayers of Amir Cheema at the Jinnah Park on Sunday.

MNA Sabir Hussain Awan, MNA Shabir Ahmad Khan and Hakim Abdul Waheed were also present.

The provincial minister alleged that Mr Cheema had been killed and he had not committed suicide, as claimed by the German authorities.

The gathering also passed a resolution urging provincial and federal governments to put a check on raids by intelligence and law-enforcement agencies for what the people called illegal arrests of foreigners.

Jamaat-i-Islami MNA Awan had put forth the resolution which demanded that NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani should immediately suspend heads of intelligence agencies in his jurisdiction, which were involved in implicating foreigners in fake cases and linking them with militant groups.

Mr Khan said he had talked to Mr Durrani on the issue and he had issued a policy statement condemning the act. He, however, regretted that the chief minister had failed to take any concrete step in this regard. He said he would raise the issue in the next cabinet meeting.

MNA Awan said frequent raids and arrests of innocent people by intelligence agencies and linking them with militant groups had incited hatred among people against the army. He said he personally knew of many innocent people arrested by agencies and later linked to militant organisations.