Peshawar, Pakistani police on Friday registered an FIR against a mob that lynched a tourist in the picturesque town of Swat for allegedly desecrating the Quran.
Muhammad Ismail, a 40-year-old resident of Sialkot in Punjab province, was shot dead by an angry mob who dragged him around the city and then hanged him in public view in Madyan tehsil of Swat district in Punjab province. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
He was accused of having burned the pages of the holy book of Islam. Five police officers and 11 locals were injured in the incident.
Police said they filed a first information report against the mafia.
According to police, Ismail's family has publicly disassociated itself from him and his alleged actions. Ismail had been staying alone in a hotel in the Swat Valley town of Madyan since June 18.
Meanwhile, a video statement from the man's mother, obtained by police, said the family had distanced themselves from him. She said her son had lived in Malaysia for a significant part of his life.
"His father died 30 years ago. He was in Malaysia. When he returned, the family married him. He kept fighting with us and then left a year and a half ago," she said in the video shared by the police.
In the video, she is also heard saying: "We are Ahle Sunnat. We are Muslims. We don't do anything wrong. We have nothing to do with him. Whatever he did or didn't do, his relationship with us is over."
The Swat police also obtained a copy of a complaint registered against Ismail in July 2022 at a police station in Sialkot. The complaint filed by her mother alleges that her son attacked her and her brother with an iron bar and the butt of a gun. He also mentioned that he was a drug addict and had made threats to family members.
The family also provided police with a newspaper clipping containing an advertisement in which the mother publicly disassociated herself from her son.
According to the police, the accused had divorced his wife. Authorities considered the objects found in his hotel room blasphemous.
Earlier, District Police Officer (DPO), Swat, Zahidullah said that the police had initially detained Ismail and locked him up in the police station when the alleged desecration incident was reported. However, the incident was announced from the mosques through loudspeakers in the market, causing thousands of people to gather in front of the police station.
Shortly after, the angry crowd demanded that the police hand over the suspect to them. When they refused, an intense exchange of gunfire took place between the local population and the police. After that, the mob set fire to the police station, forcing the police officers on duty to flee for their lives.
"After that, people entered the police station and shot and killed the suspect and dragged his body to Madyan Ada, where they hanged him. People also set fire to the police station and police vehicles, while the policemen on duty fled. Meanwhile, more police force was called to control the mob," The Express Tribune newspaper quoted the officer as saying.
Muhammad Ismail, a 40-year-old resident of Sialkot in Punjab province, was shot dead by an angry mob who dragged him around the city and then hanged him in public view in Madyan tehsil of Swat district in Punjab province. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
He was accused of having burned the pages of the holy book of Islam. Five police officers and 11 locals were injured in the incident.
Police said they filed a first information report against the mafia.
According to police, Ismail's family has publicly disassociated itself from him and his alleged actions. Ismail had been staying alone in a hotel in the Swat Valley town of Madyan since June 18.
Meanwhile, a video statement from the man's mother, obtained by police, said the family had distanced themselves from him. She said her son had lived in Malaysia for a significant part of his life.
"His father died 30 years ago. He was in Malaysia. When he returned, the family married him. He kept fighting with us and then left a year and a half ago," she said in the video shared by the police.
In the video, she is also heard saying: "We are Ahle Sunnat. We are Muslims. We don't do anything wrong. We have nothing to do with him. Whatever he did or didn't do, his relationship with us is over."
The Swat police also obtained a copy of a complaint registered against Ismail in July 2022 at a police station in Sialkot. The complaint filed by her mother alleges that her son attacked her and her brother with an iron bar and the butt of a gun. He also mentioned that he was a drug addict and had made threats to family members.
The family also provided police with a newspaper clipping containing an advertisement in which the mother publicly disassociated herself from her son.
According to the police, the accused had divorced his wife. Authorities considered the objects found in his hotel room blasphemous.
Earlier, District Police Officer (DPO), Swat, Zahidullah said that the police had initially detained Ismail and locked him up in the police station when the alleged desecration incident was reported. However, the incident was announced from the mosques through loudspeakers in the market, causing thousands of people to gather in front of the police station.
Shortly after, the angry crowd demanded that the police hand over the suspect to them. When they refused, an intense exchange of gunfire took place between the local population and the police. After that, the mob set fire to the police station, forcing the police officers on duty to flee for their lives.
"After that, people entered the police station and shot and killed the suspect and dragged his body to Madyan Ada, where they hanged him. People also set fire to the police station and police vehicles, while the policemen on duty fled. Meanwhile, more police force was called to control the mob," The Express Tribune newspaper quoted the officer as saying.