SIALKOT, June 9: Phalora police have registered a case against 13 people for desecrating the body of a labourer in Dhilum Kahiluan, Pasrur, on Sunday after attacking the funeral procession.

Police officials said the accused committed the crime to avenge a decade-old enmity. Police have yet to arrest any accused.

Pasrur Deputy Superintendent Police Malik Liaquat Ali told reporters the accused would be arrested soon.

Saifullah died of electrocution while working at an under-construction house in Sialkot on Saturday evening. His funeral was being held in village Dhilum Kahiluan, where 13 rivals, led by Naseer, attacked the funeral procession and snatched the corpse. They allegedly dragged it on the village streets for one hour. Later, they fled throwing the corpse near the heaps of rubbish.

The deceased’s heirs protested against Phalora police, saying that even though they had informed them on time, policemen reached the crime scene after several hours.

The enmity was stemmed from a land dispute in which deceased Saifullah’s brother Tahir had killed Naseer group’s Hafeez several years ago. Tahir is now in Sialkot District Jail. This murder forced Saifullah’s family to leave the village and shift somewhere in the Sialokot city.

On Sunday evening, the family came to their native village for the burial, where the Naseer Group humiliated the body.

The family has appealed to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Inspector General of Police Shaukat Javed to take note of police slackness in the incident.