AFP :
The custodian of a shrine in Sargodha allegedly assisted by four accomplices killed at least 20 people and injured four others on Saturday night.
Sargodha Deputy Commissioner (DC) Liaquat Ali Chatta claimed that the custodian Abdul Waheed, believed to be a resident of Lahore and a government employee, used a dagger and a club to kill his victims.
The killings were reported by an injured woman who arrived at District Hospital Sargodha, he said, adding that she was one of four survivors who managed to flee from the scene of the crime.
Screenshot shows people gather around bodies at a local hospital.-DawnNews
Acting on her information, a heavy contingent of police rushed to the shrine and arrested Waheed and his four alleged accomplices, he said.
The DC claimed that the prime suspect, a resident of Lahore, is a government employee.
At least 19 bodies were recovered from the shrine, he said. Three women and 16 men were among those killed, he added. Police later claimed to have recovered another body, raising the death toll to 20. Chatta said that the shrine custodian seemed “mentally unstable.” He added that the custodian was allegedly in the practice of “beating and torturing” devotees to “cleanse” them.
Quoting the survivor, the deputy commissioner alleged that the custodian had contacted devotees via telephone and summoned them to his room one by one. He claimed that the custodian had offered an intoxicating substance to his victims before removing their clothes and stabbing and beating them to death.
“The 50-year-old shrine custodian Abdul Waheed has confessed that he killed these people because he feared that they had come to kill him,” regional police chief Zulfiqar Hameed told AFP. “The suspect appears to be paranoid and psychotic, or it could be related to rivalry for the control of shrine,” he said, adding that the investigation was continuing.
The custodian of a shrine in Sargodha allegedly assisted by four accomplices killed at least 20 people and injured four others on Saturday night.
Sargodha Deputy Commissioner (DC) Liaquat Ali Chatta claimed that the custodian Abdul Waheed, believed to be a resident of Lahore and a government employee, used a dagger and a club to kill his victims.
The killings were reported by an injured woman who arrived at District Hospital Sargodha, he said, adding that she was one of four survivors who managed to flee from the scene of the crime.
Screenshot shows people gather around bodies at a local hospital.-DawnNews
Acting on her information, a heavy contingent of police rushed to the shrine and arrested Waheed and his four alleged accomplices, he said.
The DC claimed that the prime suspect, a resident of Lahore, is a government employee.
At least 19 bodies were recovered from the shrine, he said. Three women and 16 men were among those killed, he added. Police later claimed to have recovered another body, raising the death toll to 20. Chatta said that the shrine custodian seemed “mentally unstable.” He added that the custodian was allegedly in the practice of “beating and torturing” devotees to “cleanse” them.
Quoting the survivor, the deputy commissioner alleged that the custodian had contacted devotees via telephone and summoned them to his room one by one. He claimed that the custodian had offered an intoxicating substance to his victims before removing their clothes and stabbing and beating them to death.
“The 50-year-old shrine custodian Abdul Waheed has confessed that he killed these people because he feared that they had come to kill him,” regional police chief Zulfiqar Hameed told AFP. “The suspect appears to be paranoid and psychotic, or it could be related to rivalry for the control of shrine,” he said, adding that the investigation was continuing.
