Swat lynching incident: Police arrest 23 suspects

Gilgit: Police on Sunday arrested 23 suspects in connection with the lynching of an individual and the torching of Madyan Police Station in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The arrests follow a violent incident on Thursday night, where a mob beat a local tourist to death after accusing him of desecrating the Holy Quran. The mob then set the victim's body and the police station on fire.

The suspects have been moved to an undisclosed location, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend others involved in the incident.

A recent federal agency report revealed that the hotel management had asked the deceased, accused of blasphemy, to open his room door. Upon doing so, he denied the blasphemy allegations, and police took him to the station, a move the report criticized as a "grave" mistake.

The report noted that the station house officer (SHO) did not seek guidance from higher authorities nor relocate the suspect to a safe location. The absence of senior police officials and political leaders during the violence further exacerbated the situation.

During the 40 minutes the accused was in police custody, he consistently denied the blasphemy charges. The report also mentioned a firefight between the mob and police, resulting in injuries to 11 civilians and five officers. The mob set fire to the police station, a police van, five other vehicles, and two motorcycles.

However, the district police officer of Swat stated that he was unaware of the report, noting that the investigation is still ongoing and a report will be submitted to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the government.