SWAT: Police said that nine more suspects, including three main accused, were arrested on Wednesday during various raids in connection with the Madyan lynching incident.

With these new arrests, the total number of suspects apprehended in the case has reached 32.

The district police officer, Dr Zahidullah, said that efforts were under way to arrest other people involved in the incident. He said that the people, who took law into their hands, would not be spared. He added that identification of all unknow persons involved in the incident was under way and they would soon be brought to justice.

On June 20, an enraged mob lynched to death a tourist, who was accused of blasphemy. The enraged mob attacked and torched Madyan police station and took the tourist away.

TLP demands release of detainees, threatens protest

Meanwhile, leaders of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have warned the district administration and police in Swat to release innocent people, who were arrested in connection with the Madyan mob incident.

They threatened to launch nationwide protests if their demand was not accepted.

Led by TLP Malakand division general secretary Noor Mohammad Noorani, the office-bearers of the organisation including its district emir Maulana Sirajuddin, district joint secretary Dr Aleem Khan, Mufti Kafayatullah, district press secretary Naeem Khan and Jahan Bahadur addressed a press conference.

They said that the tourist was killed by a mob in Madyan as a result of public anger and reaction as police failed to lodge FIR against him. They argued that no blasphemer was sentenced in Pakistan’s 70-year history. They alleged that blasphemy law could not be implemented properly due as rulers were afraid of foreign countries.

They said that owing to the weak implementation of the law, people lost trust in the judiciary, administration and rulers. They claimed that if the judiciary and administration had followed the blasphemy law and punished the culprits, people would not have taken law into their hands.

They held police and district administration responsible for the Madyan incident, stating that people were staging a peaceful protest outside the police station. They alleged that police opened fire and injured scores of protesters. They claimed that the mob’s attack on police station and killing of the accused was a natural human reaction to the situation.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024