Feb 10, 2022: The Punjab government has notified the transfer of Priyantha Kumara lynching case trial to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore with a special prosecution team which will hear the case against several suspects from a factory in Sialkot.
According to the notification issued by the provincial government, after the transfer from Sialkot, the case will now be heard inside Kot Lakhpat Jail. A three-member special prosecution team headed by Abdul Rauf Wattoo will take the case forward and it has been directed to submit progress report of the case to the Prosecutor General Punjab on a permanent basis.
It may be recalled that on December 3 last year, Priyantha Kumara, a non-Muslim Sri Lankan manager of a sports garment factory in Sialkot, was attacked by factory workers accusing her of taking down religious posters. When the factory workers attacked, the production manager put them on the roof and locked the door. However, 20 to 25 angry people broke down the door and came up and attacked Priyantha. However, the mob did not listen and beat the production manager to death and then tried to set him on fire.
Sources in the prosecution department said that this recent development has come to light after entering the final stages of the case. It may be mentioned here that the first conviction in the Priyantha Kumara lynching case came from the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) where one accused was sentenced to one year imprisonment.
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against hundreds of unidentified persons, including factory workers. Several have since been arrested and are being questioned.
According to details, the main accused, identified as Adnan, justified the killing of Priyantha Kumara in a factory in Sialkot on social media and later confessed before the court. A case was registered against him at Sialkot’s Rangpura police station on charges of complicity in a crime.
Priyantha Kumara’s brother Kamala Sri Natasha Kumara said that he is satisfied with the investigation.
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