SIALKOT: “In the wake of the gruesome incident, the police had to face three daunting challenges. And the first of them was to stop more people from joining the mob,” said Sialkot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Omer Saeed Malik, who led the police team that had arrived at the crime scene after the tragedy.

“We had to quickly act and take religious scholars, lawyers and other stakeholders into confidence and we successfully ensured the security of the factory premises,” added SSP Malik, who is also the city’s district police officer (DPO).

In an exclusive interview with Bol News, the policeman was elaborating how effectively and swiftly the police reacted to the gruesome incident at Sialkot’s Rajco Industries, where an angry mob lynched a Sri Lankan resident Priyantha Kumara on December 3.

According to the DPO, the second challenge was to put all the suspects behind the bars. “We booked 13 suspects after verifying their identities from the videos doing rounds on social media within 8 hours and so far we have arrested 34 suspects including the ones who primarily planned the entire incident and hit the victim’s head with sticks. “In order to rule out any misunderstanding, our department circulated on social media the pictures of every arrested suspect. The police apprehended the suspects using the latest technology. The police scanned 160 videos which had a total length of 12 hours.”

The police, he said, also sealed the entry and exit points of the city as a majority of the factory workers belonged to South Punjab and might attempt to flee the city.

“We have detained more than 150 people who are being investigated. The police have not really found any clear evidence of them being involved in the brutal act,

however, they were standing near the crime scene when the victim was tortured to death,” he said.

He said the active participants in the crime were not more than 50. However, there were around 800 people present there.

The SSP said the third challenge is to ensure that the real culprits are given an exemplary punishment. He said once the forensic photography test is conducted, the role of the detainees will be determined.

“We hope to conclude the process by December 21. We are in constant contact with prosecutors, judges and lawyers to make the process smooth.

“We expect to submit the charge-sheet to an anti-terrorism court (ATC) within 30 days, after which the case will be filed under section 780.  The ATC is likely to issue a verdict within four months.”

According to the SSP, the police had received a call on the police helpline at 11:26 on December 3.

“By that time, the mob had already lynched the Sri Lankan man, who had died by 11:05. The horrific incident took place on the rooftop of the factory, so no one had the faintest idea about what was happening. Anyhow, we immediately dispatched the police forces to the crime scene,” he added.

When asked as to what might be the real motive behind the incident and if alleged blasphemy was the real cause, SSP Malik said he did not want to go into such debates at present.

“Currently, our aim is to arrest the key culprits and get them convicted. In case, there are some new developments during the remand period, we’ll definitely share them with the media.”

He said the police managed to control the situation as they took religious scholars from the Sunni Tehreek and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on board and these parties condemned the incident. “In fact, no collective segment of the society has endorsed this behavior.”

He said Sialkot has a population of 4.1 million people out of which merely 100 were involved in this crime. “We are peaceful citizens as a whole. However, the ghastly murder has attached a stigma to the people of Sialkot.  We can only get rid of this shame by ensuring that justice is served.”

The SSP said the post management of the Sialkot tragedy will play a crucial role.

“All segments of the society have strongly condemned it. The perpetrators won’t find refuge anywhere.  One can hope that this disapproval and condemnation from all sections of the society will prevent such unfortunate and barbaric incidents in future,” he added.