Mob in Pakistan's Punjab province lynches Sri Lankan citizen over blasphemy

Lahore: A mob in Pakistan on Friday lynched a Sri Lankan national before burning his body over alleged blasphemy in the country's Punjab province.

Priyantha Kumara, who was in his 40s, was working as the general manager of a factory in Sialkot district, some 100 kms from here, a Punjab police official told PTI.

"Mr Kumara allegedly tore a poster of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in which Quranic verses were inscribed and threw it in the dustbin. The poster of the Islamist party was pasted on the wall adjoining the office of Kumara. A



couple of factory workers saw him removing the poster and spread the word in the factory," the official said.

Hundreds of men, enraged over the “blasphemy” incident, started gathering outside the factory from adjoining areas. Most of them were activists and supporters of the TLP.

"The mob dragged the suspect (the Sri Lankan national) from the factory and severely tortured him. After he succumbed to his wounds, the mob burnt his body before police reached there," the official said.