As the funeral of Priyantha Kumara, the 49-year-old factory manager, who was brutally murdered by a mob in Sialkot, Pakistan, was held in Ganemulla on Wednesday with hundreds of mourners calling for justice, in Pakistan, police widened the probe to arrest hundreds of suspects who are still on large. The remains of Mr. Kumara were [...]

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Priyantha Kumara killing: Pakistan widens probe to arrest more suspects

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Mr. Kuamara's wife (left) and son taking part in religious rites at the funeral on Wednesday. Pix by Indika Handuwala

As the funeral of Priyantha Kumara, the 49-year-old factory manager, who was brutally murdered by a mob in Sialkot, Pakistan, was held in Ganemulla on Wednesday with hundreds of mourners calling for justice, in Pakistan, police widened the probe to arrest hundreds of suspects who are still on large.

The remains of Mr. Kumara were airlifted to Sri Lanka and handed over to his family on Monday.

Heartbreaking funeral pictures of family members wailing over the closed-casket flooded social media while Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris held talks with Pakistan’s Acting High Commissioner Tanvir Ahmed to work out a mechanism to ensure that Mr. Kumara’s family received compensation.

Mr. Kumara, a father of two, was attacked by hundreds of men who accused him of ‘blasphemy’ when he removed a poster with religious verses.

“So far a total of 132 suspects have been arrested, of which 27 are the prime suspects, including the one who plotted the assassination,” Mr. Ahmad said.

A First-Information Report (FIR) has been registered against 900 unidentified persons under different sections of the law, including the Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Pakistani police said they were identifying more suspects through CCTV footage and arresting them using mobile phone data and other technological means.

So far, 345 Rajco Industries workers have been questioned, according to Pakistani media.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured Sri Lanka’s President that justice would be meted out and maximum punishment will be given to the perpetrators,” the Acting High Commissioner said, adding that the Sialkot-based business community had announced that they would send USD 100,000 to the family.

“His wife will also continue to receive his monthly salary for as long as she is alive,” Mr. Ahmad noted.

Prime Minister Khan condemned the barbarous attack as a “day of shame for Pakistan.” At the condolence gathering held for Priyantha Kumara at the Prime Minister’s office in Islamabad last Tuesday, Mr. Kumara’s factory colleague Malik Adnan, the only person who tried and save the factory manager from the mob, was presented the Tamgha-i-Shujaat award in recognition of his courage.

Mr Adnan said he dedicated his award to Mr Kumara and the people of Sri Lanka.

Speaking to Pakistani media after the ceremony, Mr. Adnan said he was determined to save Mr. Kumara and did not want any incident that would tarnish the image of Pakistan in the eyes of the world community.

“I hope this incident would be a turning point for the nation and will change the thinking of the whole of Pakistan, because the future generation will be better nurtured if the mindset changed,” the Pakistani media quoted him as saying.

The Sialkot District Bar said none of the attackers would receive legal representation from them.

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