Ankara: An alleged attack on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been foiled by the security officials in the city of Siirt, the Turkish Presidential office confirmed.

A small explosive device was reportedly attached to a car belonging to a police officer who was supposed to secure a rally attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.

The bomb was affixed to the undercarriage of the officer’s private car and found before he left for the rally, Turkey media said.

The explosive was found on the officer’s vehicle in the province of Mardin, around 125 miles from the rally in the city of Siirt, the report said.

The officer had been assigned to the rally and was a member of the riot police.

A bomb disposal team removed the device without causing any injuries, the report said.

Security officials are investigating the incident.

Turkey has been battling the Kurdish PKK group in the area for decades.

Sialkot: Police has rounded up around 120 suspects over the lynching of Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara Diyawadanage in Sialkot.

On Friday, a mob in Sialkot tortured a Sri Lankan national to death and set his body ablaze.

The heart wrenching incident occurred on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road, where workers of private factory attacked their export manager and burnt his body.

The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against 800 to 900 unidentified people at Uggoki police station under sections of terrorism, attempt to murder, plot to murder, desecration of a human body and other sections.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was overseeing the investigation into “the horrific vigilante attack”, as he called it “a day of shame for Pakistan”. 

“Let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law,” Premier tweeted.

The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot & the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan. I am overseeing the investigations & let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 3, 2021

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed “deep concern” and “shock” over the incident— expressing confidence that Imran Khan would bring perpetrators to justice.  

A day after the violent mob, President Gotabaya, turned to twitter and wrote, “Deeply concerned by the incident in Sialkot, Pakistan”. 

He further added that Sri Lanka trusts that Imran Khan and the government of Pakistan will ensure justice is served and ensure the safety of the remaining Sri Lankan workers in the country.

Deeply concerned by the incident in Sialkot #Pakistan. #SriLanka trusts that PM @ImranKhanPTI and the Gvt. of Pakistan will ensure justice is served and ensure the safety of the remaining Sri Lankan workers in Pakistan.

— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) December 4, 2021

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Twitter, “Shocking to see the brutal and fatal attack on Priyantha Diyawadana by extremist mobs in Pakistan. My heart goes out to his wife and family”.

Shocking to see the brutal and fatal attack on Priyantha Diyawadana by extremist mobs in #Pakistan. My heart goes out to his wife and family. #SriLanka and her people are confident that PM @ImranKhanPTI will keep to his commitment to bring all those involved to justice.

— Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) December 4, 2021

On the other hand, up to 120 people have been arrested and conducted raids in over 200 areas of the city, Punjab Inspector-General (IG) Rao Sardar Ali Khan said.  

Several gruesome video clips shared on social media showed a mob beating the prone victim. Some clips showed his body set ablaze, as well as the overturned wreckage of what was said to be his car.  

Incident

As per preliminary investigation, a dispute emerged when the victim Priyantha Kumara directed employees to remove some stickers from the walls of the factory in the wake of foreigners’ visit.

The workers, allegedly, didn’t act on the order due to which, Priyantha came forward and removed it himself at 10:28am. 

Shortly after the heated argument, the factory owner reached the spot to resolve the issue. Following which the manager apologised for the misunderstanding on his part.  

The matter was reportedly considered settled and the factory workers had dispersed. However, some workers who held grudge, incited their colleagues to attack the manager.  

Within a few minutes, a mob formed and set on the victim within the premises of the unit, eventually killing him. 

His body was later dragged outside the factory and burned.

Police received a phone call at 11:28am about the incident and reached the site within 12 minutes.  

Moreover, police have obtained CCTV footage of the attack from 160 cameras installed at the site.   

Autopsy report 

According to the postmortem report of Priyantha Kumara, most of his body was burnt while his bones were also broken due to severe torture. 

The autopsy report confirmed a fractured skull and brain protrusion and he died of brain damage. Around 99% of the body of the manager was completely burnt. 

All the bones, including his arms and hip, were broken with the exception of one foot. 

Lahore: Polling of NA-133 Lahore by-election has concluded and the counting of votes has begun across the 254 polling stations in the constituency, considered a "stronghold" of the PML-N.

According to details, the polling started at 8am this morning and continued till 5pm without any break after which the gates to the polling stations were closed off to any more voters.

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PML-N leader Pervaiz Malik who died of heart complications on October 11. His wife, Shaista Pervaiz Malik is the PML-N candidate, whereas the PPP fielded Aslam Gill for the election.

Moreover, ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates Jamshed Iqbal Cheema has been disqualified from contesting the election on technical grounds and his appeal has been earlier rejected by the election tribunal and later by the high court.