PESHAWAR: An enraged mob in Pakistan’s picturesque city of Swat shot a tourist, dragged him through the city and publicly hanged him for desecrating the Quran.
The incident occurred on Thursday night when 40-year-old Muhammad Ismail, a resident of Sialkot in Punjab, was visiting the hill resort town of Swat in northwest Pakistan and is accused of burning pages of the Islamic holy book in Madian tehsil of Swat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Swat district police chief Zahidullah said police had initially detained Ismail and held him at the police station after the suspected blasphemy case was initially reported.
But the incident was announced from a mosque over loudspeakers in the market, drawing thousands of people to the police station.
Soon after, an angry crowd demanded that police hand over the suspects, a refusal that led to a fierce gunfight between locals and police in which eight people were injured. The Express Tribune The newspaper reported.
The mob then set the police station on fire, forcing the police officers on duty to flee.
“The mob then stormed the police station and shot dead the suspect and dragged his body to Madyan Adda where they hanged him. The mob also set fire to the police station and a police vehicle, forcing the police on duty to flee. Meanwhile, additional police forces have been deployed to control the mob,” the officer said.
Police officials said the incident caused chaos in the hill town and extra police forces have been called in to restore order in the popular tourist destination.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has sought a report from the provincial police chief.
He instructed the Inspector General of Police to take urgent steps to control the situation and urged people to remain calm.
Meanwhile, police registered an FIR against the mob on Friday.
Police also said Ismail’s family had publicly disassociated themselves from the suspect and his actions. The suspect had been staying alone in a hotel in the town of Madian in the Swat Valley since June 18.
A video statement from the man’s mother obtained by police said the family had distanced themselves from him, and she said her son had spent most of his life in Malaysia.
“His father died 30 years ago. He was in Malaysia. When he came back, my family married him off. He kept fighting with us and left a year and a half ago,” she said in the video shared by police.
In the video, she can also be heard saying, “We are Ahle Sunnat. We are Muslims. We have not cheated. We have nothing to do with him. Our relationship is over, irrespective of what he has done or not done.” Swat police also obtained a copy of a complaint registered against Ismail at Sialkot Police Station in July 2022. The complaint filed by his mother had alleged that her son had assaulted her and her brother with an iron rod and a pistol butt. It was also mentioned that he was a drug addict and had been threatening his family members.
The family also provided police with newspaper clippings in which the mother had placed an advertisement publicly severing ties with her son.
Police said the defendant was divorced from his wife and the items found in the hotel room were deemed blasphemous by authorities.
Published June 21, 2024 19:22 IST
