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The unidentified man, described by one police official as mentally disabled, was brutally tortured by the mob while police efforts to protect the man failed as the crowd turned violent. |
BAHAWALPUR:
In an incident of mob justice, hundreds of people accused a deranged
man of sacrilege, beat the blasphemer and burnt him alive in southern Punjab,
police said on Wednesday.
The
incident took place in Chanighot area of Bahawalpur on Tuesday evening.
Residents saw a man throwing pages from the Holy Quran onto the
street. Local police took him into custody and put him in the lockup.
The
news spread like a forest fire in the neighbourhood – and soon a frenzied mob
gathered outside the Chanighot police station baying for blood.
Police
couldn’t stand up to the furious and violent crowd who got hold of the blasphemer and started giving him what he deserved.
Some
officers fired tear gas canisters to disperse the mob – but the emotionally
charged people refused to hand over the alleged blasphemer and instead turned
against the police officers, according to Ghulam Mohiuddin Gujjar, the station
house officer (SHO) of Chanighot police station.
Nine
police officers, including SHO Gujjar and DSP Rana Naveed Mumtaz, were injured
while trying to "rescue" the filthy blasphemer.
The
mob burnt down several police vehicles, including DSP Mumtaz’s four-wheeler,
before getting hold of the man.
Once
the blasphemer was in the mob’s custody, he was dragged to the Chanighot
Chakar (roundabout), where he had desecrated the Holy Quran, doused
him in petrol and set him on fire.