Pakistani police arrest 50 in mob lynching

Hundreds of enraged Muslims kill a man in custody under blasphemy laws for insulting the Quran.

LAHORE, Pakistan — Police in Pakistan arrested at least 50 suspects in the kidnapping and lynching of a man who was in custody on suspicion of committing blasphemy, officials said Monday.

A mob of hundreds of enraged Muslims on Saturday descended on the police station in the Nankana district of eastern Punjab province. The people had been alerted that a man identified only as Waris had desecrated a copy of the Quran.

According to Babar Sarfraz Alpa, the district police chief, the mob had accused Waris of pasting images of himself, his wife and a knife onto pages of the book, displaying the pages and throwing them in the streets.

Charges of blasphemy carry the death penalty under Pakistani law.

Officials said the mob stormed the Warburton police station. Some used a wooden ladder to climb a wall and open the main gate, allowing the others to enter.

By the time police reinforcements arrived at the scene to try to save the suspect’s life, the mob had lynched him and were about to burn his body.

Police dispersed the crowd.

On Monday, Alpa said police had arrested at least 50 people alleged to have participated in the attack. He said more raids were underway to arrest others.

International and Pakistani rights groups say accusations of blasphemy have been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.

Pakistan’s government has long been under pressure to change the country’s blasphemy laws, a move Islamists strongly resist.

Waris was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of blasphemy and was in prison until mid-2022. After his release, police say, he again desecrated the Quran, and witnesses grabbed and beat him.

Police took Waris into custody. But the mob attacked the police station and killed him, saying they were punishing him for insulting the Quran.

A statement said authorities have dismissed the police station’s chief and the area’s deputy superintendent for negligence in failing to prevent the attack.