SWAT: District police officer Dr Zahidullah Khan on Friday claimed that Madyan town here had returned to normalcy following the lynching of a suspected blasphemer in a police station.

“The situation is under control and peaceful in the entire Swat district, including Madyan, with additional personnel deployed in the area to maintain law and order,” Dr Khan told Dawn.

The DPO said that despite the incident, tourists continued to come to the district from across the country.

A mob lynched Mohammad Suleman, a resident of Sialkot city in the Punjab province, inside the Madyan police station on June 20 evening after his detention for the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. The attackers also torched the body, the police station, and a police vehicle.

RPO says inquiry launched into attack

Regional police officer Mohammad Ali Gandapur told reporters at the Madyan police station that despite the police’s resistance, the mob broke into the police station, smashed doors and window panes, and burnt all documents.

“We [police] have begun an inquiry into the incident besides registering two FIRs, one against the mob for arson attack on the police station and the other against the man accused of blasphemy,” he said.

The police said the mob burnt nine vehicles including a police van and 10 motorcycles.

SHO of the Madyan police station Islamul Haq told Dawn that after detention, the accused claimed that he was a Sunni Muslim and didn’t commit blasphemy.

He added that the police station was attacked by a mob shortly thereafter.

“After sensing the danger, I shifted the accused to a police servant quarter, but the mob got into the police station, and found and seized the accused,” he said.

The accused stayed at a hotel near the Madyan Bridge on the Swat River.

Hotel owner Haider claimed that the man checked in on June 18.

He told Dawn that on June 20, some guests alerted the hotel’s staff members to burnt pages of the Holy Quran on the door of the suspect’s room.

“The situation escalated as the complaints and other guests became agitated. Our staff members opened the room and found more burnt pages of the Holy Quran inside,” he told Dawn.

He said his hotel management called the police and handed the suspect over to them.The local elders resented the lynching incident.

Iqbal Hussain, vice-chairman of the Madyan Dispute Resolution Council, told Dawn that the suspect was attacked and killed after members of a religious organisation made announcements from local mosques about his presence in the police station.

“The mob mostly consisted of young men, who were incited by the allegation of blasphemy,” he said.

The president of the Malakand Division Traders Federation claimed that the Swat region had troubles in every summer season when tourism was at its peak.

He said the lynching incident was planned to disrupt tourism and sabotage peace in the region.

“We ask tourists to come here without fear, promising them protection,” he told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2024