Daily Times

SARGODHA: Shrine custodian along with his four accomplices murdered twenty people and injured four other at Sargodha shrine on Saturday night.

Three suspects including the shrine’s custodian have been arrested by the police. Sargodha Deputy Commissioner (DC) Liaqat Ali Khan Chatta claimed that the suspect Abdul Waheed, who is custodian of Darbar Ali Muhammad Gujjar shrine in Chak-95 of Sargodha, used a dagger and a club to kill his victims.

The incident was reported by an injured woman, one of four survivors who managed to flee from the site, he said.

Heavy contingent of police rushed to the shrine and arrested Waheed and his four abetters.

Chatta claimed that at least 20 bodies were recovered from the shrine, four women and 16 men were among those killed, he added.

DC believed that Waheed was mentally disabled, adding that shrine custodian and his accomplices first intoxicated the disciples then tortured them with machetes and batons, eventually killing them.

“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,” said Regional Police Chief Zulfiqar Hameed.

“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.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has asked for a police report on the investigation within 24 hours, a senior government official said.

There have been cases of people dying during exorcism ceremonies at some Sufi shrines across Pakistan, but mass killings are rare.