Sri Lankan lynched in Pak: Imran assures Lankan counterpart of ‘justice’

Police in Pakistan arrested more than hundred people after Priyantha Diyawadana, a factory manager in Sialkot, was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob who accused him of blasphemy.

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan assured his Sri Lankan counterpart on Saturday that necessary action will be taken against those who killed a Sri Lankan factory manager accusing him of blasphemy.

Members of Joint Action Committee carry placards during a protest in Karachi against the killing of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot after he was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob who accused him of blasphemy, officials said. (AFP)

“Spoke to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today in UAE to convey our nation's anger and shame to people of Sri Lanka at the vigilante killing of Priyantha Diyawadana in Sialkot,” Khan tweeted.

Police in Pakistan arrested more than hundred people after Priyantha Diyawadana, a factory manager in Sialkot, was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob who accused him of blasphemy, according to news agencies.

Khan said that he spoke to the Sri Lankan president and called the incident ‘day of shame for Pakistan’. He said that those arrested will be ‘prosecuted with full severity of the law’.

Diyawadana was killed on Friday in Pakistan’s Sialkot after rumours spread that he tore a religious poster and threw it in the dustbin, news agency AFP reported citing local police officials.

A Punjab government spokesperson told news agencies that around 800 to 900 people dragged the body of Diyawadana. Reports also pointed out that many in the mob took selfies in front of the burning corpse. The mob also made clips of themselves beating the victim while chanting slogans against blasphemy.

The spokesperson for the Punjab government said that the body will be handed over to the Sri Lankan embassy in Islamabad. A local citizen while speaking to news agency AFP also cited concern regarding how the issue will impact Pakistan’s image internationally.

Several religious and political parties along with the Pakistan army chief also condemned the incident.

Till now at least 800 people have been booked under terrorism charges while 13 main accused are suspects among the 100+ people arrested. Two key suspects also confessed that they were involved with the gruesome killing of the Sri Lankan national.