Priyantha Kumara lynching trial moved to Lahore Kot Lakhpat Jail

The Punjab government has decided to move the trial in the lynching of Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara from Gujranwala to Lahore.

Priyantha, who was working as a factory manager at Rajco Industries in Sialkot, was lynched and his body was set on fire by workers over blasphemy allegations on December 3, 2021.

An anti-terrorism court of Gujranwala was hearing the case. On Thursday, the government issued a notification that the trial will now be conducted inside Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore.

A three-member special prosecution team led by Special Prosecutor General Abdur Rauf Watto has been pursuing the case. The government has directed the prosecution team to submit the daily progress report of the case to Prosecutor General Punjab.

The investigation is in final stages. Following the killing of the Sri Lankan manager, police detained around 200 suspects.

Later on, police released over 100 detainees after the investigators analysed CCTV and phone videos and no corroborating evidence was found against them. However, over 80 who appeared on videos and were seen attacking Priyantha were arrested.

Earlier in February, the police arrested two more suspects. Investigators said that they were at the rooftop of the factory when several workers got hold of Priyantha and later threw him down.

A week after the murder, Pakistan observed the Day of Condemnation and religious scholars held a press conference to denounce the lynching. – Saama