Pakistani police accuse 23 people of being part of a mob that murdered a blasphemy suspect

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan police have arrested 23 people accused of being part of a mob that killed a man suspected of desecrating the Quran, The holy book of Islamofficials said Monday.

The suspects were accused of murder and arson at a police station in Madyan, a tourist destination in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the mob killed the man on Thursday and burned his body.

Police initially identified the murdered man as Mohammad Ismail, but on Monday said after an investigation they concluded his name was Mohammad Salman. They said his family has not yet contacted the police to receive his body.

There was no official statement from the police in Punjab, where the man lived.

However, Salman’s mother said in a brief video statement that her son was a drug addict and used to beat her, and she kicked him out of the house because of his violent behavior. She said that she was a Muslim and that her family was not responsible for any illicit acts of Salman.

In Madyan, regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur said on Monday that officers had arrested 23 suspects and that more operations were underway as part of efforts to arrest everyone involved in Salman’s murder.

Salman was staying at a hotel in Madyan when a mob accused him of blasphemy.

Authorities say he was taken into custody on Thursday for his protection and was being questioned by police when a crowd gathered in front of the Madyan police station demanding that he be handed over to them so they could immediately punish him for allegedly burning pages of the Quran.

According to police and government representatives, police officers attempted to assure the crowd that Salman would be tried if he had committed blasphemy, but the angry mob refused to accept the assurances and attacked the police station, injuring some officers.

The mob kidnapped the man and publicly killed him and burned his body.

Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan. Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death. Although authorities have not yet carried out a death sentence for blasphemy, the accusations could cause riots and incite crowds to violence.

Last month, a crowd in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province attacked a 72-year-old Christian man after accusing him of desecrating pages of the Quran. He later died in a hospital.