23 people arrested for involvement in lynching of tourist in Pakistan's Swat city | Pakistan News

The crowd also set fire to the Madyan police station.

Ismail was accused of burning the pages of the holy book of Islam. Five police officers and 11 residents were injured in the incident.

Police have arrested 23 people for their alleged involvement in the lynching of Ismail and the arson of Madyan police station, Geo News reported.

Those arrested were transferred to an undisclosed location while efforts were underway to arrest others involved in the incident, police said.

Members of the mob have been identified and “efforts for their arrest are underway”, the report said, quoting Swat District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Zaman Shah.

He said two first information reports (FIRs) were also registered on charges of blasphemy and damage to state property, respectively.

He added that the suspect is believed to be a drug addict and was imprisoned in a domestic violence case following his mother's complaint.

On Saturday, Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal condemned the lynching, lamenting how religion is being used as a weapon to justify “street justice” and “vigilantism.”

“We must take note of this incident because our nation is on the brink. We have now reached a point where we use religion to justify mob violence and street justice, blatantly violating the Constitution, the law and the state,” Iqbal said. PTI GRS NPK GRS
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