A Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara, who was working as a manager at a private factory in Sialkot, was beaten to death and his body was later set on fire by a mob over alleged blasphemy.

As per the initial reports, the incident took place on Friday on the Wazirabad Road of Sialkot where most factories are located.

Who was Priyantha Kumara?

The employees of Rajco Industries Priyantha Kumara, located on Wazirbad Road, started a protest on the premises alleging that Priyantha Kumara, had committed blasphemy, as the information about the protest, three personnel of the Uggoki police reached the spot, the mob clearly outnumbered them which has made them silent spectators.

Mr Kumara, a Sri Lankan Christian, had been working at Rajco Industries for 10 years. According to the website of Rajko Industries, the company has been manufacturing and exporting sportswear worldwide since 1935. It is a private company with 1,000 to 5,000 employees. He worked with Crescent Textile Mill in Faisalabad from April 2010 to 2012 as Industrial Engineering Manager.

Meanwhile, Khurram Shehzad, a spokesman for Sialkot police, told local media  that “Priyantha Kumara has been living in Pakistan since 2010 when his wife and child returned to Sri Lanka from Pakistan a year or two ago .”

The Incident

As per the initial reports, the incident took place on Friday on the Wazirabad Road of Sialkot where most factories are located.

District Police Officer (DPO) Sialkot Omer Saeed Malik confirmed to Bol News that Priyantha Kumara was a Sri Lankan national and living in Sialkot. He added that Kumara was severely beaten to death by the employees of the private factories and later his body was burnt by the mob.

“The investigation into the murder of the export manager who was a Sri Lankan national is underway and I cannot share the motive behind this murder with you as of yet because the investigation is in progress,” he said.

A police official, who spoke to Bol News on the condition of anonymity, said that apart from lynching the manager the workers had also vandalised the factory in which the Sri Lankan was working and also blocked the roads.

“After receiving the report of the incident DPO took a timely measure and a heavy contingent reached the spot and tried to control the law and order situation. After successful negotiations with the angry mob and protestors the traffic was restored,” said the official.

Videos of the incident which have gone viral showed that hundreds of men gathered in the area, with many chanting slogans.

This is not the first time that a mob lynching has taken place in Sialkot.

Back in 2010, a mob had lynched two brothers in the presence of police. The mob had claimed that the brothers were dacoits.

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