LAHORE: Police claimed on Wednesday to have arrested 25 more suspects in the Youhanabad lynching case. A total of 60 Christians have been taken into custody so far.

A senior police officer told Dawn that 15 key suspects were among those arrested in the fresh crackdown launched in the wake of the lynching of two persons. Some of them were nabbed from Islamabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot, he said. Two of them -- Sohail Johnson and Yousaf Johnson -- were taken into custody from Gujranwala and Sialkot, respectively.

A police team led by SP Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Umar Virk was conducting raids for the arrest of the suspects. The major crackdown was launched at the residences of the Christians in and around Youhanabad.

A police source told this reporter that the CIA teams were carrying out extensive raids in Youhanabad. He said the police had established the identity of several protesters through the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

Elite force personnel belonging to different districts also were taking part in crackdown on the rioters involved in the cases registered against them at the Nishter Colony police station for lynching two persons, damaging public and private properties and harassing a woman car driver.

Police release sketches of blast suspects

Meanwhile, the police have released two sketches of suicide bombers involved in attacking the churches in Youhanabad. The sketches have been prepared with the help of eyewitnesses. Both suicide bombers were between 22 and 25 years and one of them had beard.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

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