Qureshi says political leadership & Pakistani nation strongly condemn killing of a Sri Lankan national Mulana Mufti Taqi Usmani condemned the killing of the foreign national over blasphemy allegations.

Qureshi says political leadership & Pakistani nation strongly condemn killing of a Sri Lankan national

Shocking to see the brutal & fatal attack on Priyantha Diyawadana by extremist mobs in Pakistan: Mahinda Rajapaksa

Police arrested 118 men, including 13 prime suspects, for murdering & burning body of a Sri Lankan national: IGP Punjab

Mulana Mufti Taqi Usmani condemned the killing of the foreign national over blasphemy allegations.

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/COLOMBO ( Web News )

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi says political leadership and Pakistani nation strongly condemn killing of a Sri Lankan national in Sialkot.

In a tweet on Saturday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi offered condolence to bereaved family, government and people of Sri Lanka. He said perpetrators will be brought to justice. The Minister said such acts have no place in our faith and country.

“The political leadership & Pakistani nation strongly condemn killing of a Sri Lankan national. We offer our sincere condolences to bereaved family, govt & people of #SriLanka & will ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. Such acts have no place in our faith & country” Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says 17th extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan situation will be held in Islamabad on 19th of this month.

Addressing a news conference at Governor’s House in Lahore on Saturday, he said an extraordinary meeting is being held after 41 years. He said P5 countries and the European Agency have also been invited to attend the meeting.

Foreign Minister said human tragedy can happen if attention is not paid to Afghanistan situation. He said half of Afghanistan’s population can suffer from food shortage.

He said that the country could face an economic collapse if the frozen assets were not released to cope with the burgeoning needs.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said any deteriorating situation in Afghanistan may trigger a new refugee exodus. He said the whole world should understand the current situation in Afghanistan

Shocking to see the brutal & fatal attack on Priyantha Diyawadana by extremist mobs in Pakistan: Mahinda Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday expressed shock at the brutal Sialkot lynching of a Sri Lankan national, but expressed confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s commitment to punish all those involved.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa took to Twitter to condemn the horrific Friday incident that saw a mob torture and kill Priyantha Diyawadana, an expat factory manager working in Sialkot, over blasphemy allegations.

“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,” he wrote on Twitter.

He said that Sri Lanka and her people are confident that PM Imran Khan will keep to his commitment to bring all those involved to justice.

“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 tweeted.

Police arrested 118 men, including 13 prime suspects, for murdering & burning body of a Sri Lankan national: IGP Punjab

At least 800 booked under ATA over Sialkot lynching

Inspector-General of Police Punjab Rao Sardar Ali Khan said Saturday that police have arrested 118 men, including 13 prime suspects, for murdering and burning the body of a Sri Lankan national.

At a press conference in Lahore, IG Punjab and provincial government Spokesperson Hassan Khawar briefed media on the investigations into the Sialkot incident.

The IGP said that during the last 24 hours, police have conducted raids in over 200 areas of the city and arrested nearly 120 men. The spokesperson of Punjab revealed that the police have obtained CCTV footage of the attack from 160 cameras installed at the site.

He said that the post-mortem of the victim has been conducted and Prime Minister Imran Khan and CM Usman Buzdar are overseeing the investigations themselves.

Detailing the sequence of the events that led to the incident, IG Rao said that the DPO of Sialkot reached the site 17 minutes after the first complaint.

Meanwhile President Dr. Arif Alvi has appreciated the prompt action taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan, regarding the Sialkot incident.

In a statement, the President said this incident is definitely very sad and shameful, and not religious in any way whatsoever. He said Islam is a religion that established cannons of deliberative justice rather than mob lynching.

Meanwhile the police have arrested a prime suspect and booked at least 800 people under the Anti-Terrorism Act a day after a mob tortured a Sri Lankan man, employed as a manager in a factory on Wazirabad Road, Sialkot, to death and set his body on fire. The police said Farhan Idrees, the key suspect, has been detained.

They said hundreds of people armed with sticks and batons were present inside the factory at the time of the murder of the foreign national, Priyantha Kumara.

After the murder, the mob dragged his body on the streets, the police said, adding that it failed to stop the crowd due to a lack of strength.

As per the initial investigation, the police said that the Sri Lanka citizen was killed over allegations of blasphemy. They added that they were investigating the matter from all angles.

Meanwhile, an initial report of the incident has been submitted to Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Punjab Police. As per the report, at least 112 suspects have been detained who were identified with the help of the factory managers. The provocateurs have been arrested as well.

The detained suspects have been moved to unknown locations, they said, adding that investigation was still underway.  Separately, the body of the deceased has been handed over to the police after post-mortem for legal formalities.

In a statement, Mulana Mufti Taqi Usmani condemned the killing of the foreign national over blasphemy allegations. He said blasphemy was a “grave crime” but the evidence to prove the blasphemy charges must be beyond doubt. The Sialkot incident has tarnished the image of Pakistan and Muslims across the world, he added.

He expressed concerns over the violent state of affairs in Pakistan, saying instead of using force, the government should table the matter before parliament to resolve such issues. He also urged the protesters to use peaceful means instead of destroying national properties and violence.