Priyantha Kumaras murder: Pakistan detains 85 prime suspects

On Tuesday, the Lahore High Court Chief Justice directed Sialkot District Police Officer to complete investigation of the suspects and submit the report to the court at the earliest so that the trial could begin

Authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Wednesday said they have detained 85 main suspects after determining their role in the brutal lynching of a Sri Lankan national in Sialkot city earlier this month.

© ASSOCIATED PRESS Members of a civil society group participate in a demonstration to condemn Sialkot's lynching incident, in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Police arrested 13 suspects and detained dozens of others in the lynching of a Sri Lankan employee at a sports equipment factory in eastern Pakistan, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In a shocking incident, a mob of 800 men, including supporters of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), attacked a garment factory in Sialkot on December 3 and lynched its 49-year-old General Manager - Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana - before setting his body on fire over allegations of blasphemy.

“Currently 85 main suspects whose role has been identified through video footages and investigation in the brutal lynching of Priyantha Kumara are detained on physical remand,” an official of the Punjab police told PTI on Wednesday.

The official said over 100 other suspects were also included in the investigation but no evidence of their involvement in the case was detected, thus they were not named in the FIR (First Information Report) and some of them who were detained were released.

“We want to present a strong case against the prime suspects in the Court and investigation teams are working hard on it,” he said. - The Hindu