During the inquiry into the lynching of Sri Lankan manufacturing manager Diyawadanage Don Nandasri Priyantha in Sialkot last week, 40 fresh suspects were identified.
The culprits were identified, according to the police, using several videos. They said that the majority of the newly discovered suspects were strangers, including residents of nearby communities.
They also alleged that multiple raids were carried out after information about the suspects became public.
The police stated, “The newly identified culprits will be detained soon.”
Meanwhile, the Sialkot district police officer (DPO) reported that the main suspect, Saboor Butt, had incited the factory workers to attack Priyantha and gathered them for the attack.
Priyantha and Butt are shown in a video at the plant’s stitching hall, where the deceased manufacturing worker had visited just before being lynched.
Saboor Butt is currently in police custody on a physical remand and is being interviewed, according to the DPO.
Other suspects’ roles in the incident are also being investigated, he added.
Eight additional individuals have been apprehended.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Inspector-General of Police announced that eight more key suspects in the case have been apprehended using mobile phone data and footage from the incident.
Zakir Salman, who was involved in desecrating Priyantha’s body, and others who incited the attack, tortured Priyantha, and recorded the lynching, he added, are among the new inmates.
As of Monday, 26 people had been arrested in connection with the case and had been remanded in custody.
The police asked a Gujranwala anti-terrorism court for a 15-day remand for interrogation, which the judge granted and directed the investigation officer to produce the suspects on December 12.
More than 135 people have been arrested in connection with the lynching in Sialkot thus far.
According to a Punjab police spokeswoman, 26 people have been identified as suspects in the heinous crime.
He had previously stated that CM Buzdar and the Punjab Inspector-General of Police are constantly monitoring the probe and that the process of identifying the apprehended suspects is still underway.
The act of lynching
After being accused of blasphemy, Diyawadana Priyantha, a manager of a private plant in Sialkot, was lynched by a mob last Friday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan described the heinous event as “a day of disgrace for Pakistan.”
The foreigner had allegedly committed blasphemy, according to workers at a garment factory on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road. After that, he was lynched and his body was set on fire.
According to the authorities, the crowd allegedly vandalized the factory and impeded traffic.
Senior government officials, including the prime minister and president, as well as the military’s highest leadership, all condemned the assassination and promised to bring all those responsible to justice.
