MULTAN,April 2nd: The custodians (Mutwalli) of a shrine in Sargodha allegedly killed at least 20 devotees and injured three others on Friday night, police said.DPO Sargodha Suhail Chaudhry sauid," we have taken three suspects in custody on the report of an injured woman who is among the survivors," So called custodians were identified as Abdul Waheed son of Qaimdin Gujjar(Nankana Sahib)Zafar Ali son of Sadiq Ali Dogar (Sheikhupura)and Sanaullah son of Arshad (Mandi Bahauddin).DPO told that there was a shrine of a pious Muhammad Ali in Chak No.95-north 10 km away from Sargodha city. The cause of huge killing could not be ascertained so far, DPO added. DPO further said that this gruesome incident occurred at 0130 am. Another Police oficer told that all the bodies were shifted to civil hospital Sargodha for autopsy. However no case was registered so far.He said that they wanted to spread panic in the area. There were 15 men and 5 women, while 2 other women were seriously injured and had been shifted to the hospital, said the rescue officials. According to sources, “3 suspects have been arrested from the venue. Drugs were recovered from the trustee’s room in the Shrine,” said SP Sargodha, Bilal Iftikhar.Four women were among those killed at the Shrine of Mohammad Ali in Punjab province, according to police, who said they had arrested three suspects including the shrine’s custodian.
“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 said.“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.
Visiting the shrines and offering alms to the poor – and cash to the custodians – remains very popular in the country, where many believe this will help get their prayers answered.
There have been cases of people dying during exorcism ceremonies at some Sufi shrines across the country, but mass killings are rare.
The killings were reported by an injured woman who arrived at District Hospital Sargodha, he said, adding that she was one of three survivors who managed to flee from the scene of the crime.
Acting on her information, a heavy contingent of police rushed to the shrine and arrested Waheed and two others, he said.
The DC claimed that the prime suspect, a resident of Lahore, is an employee of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
At least 19 bodies were recovered from the shrine, he said. Three women and 16 men were among those killed, he added. However, later police claimed to have recovered another body, raising the death toll to 20.
Chatta alleged that the shrine custodian is mentally unstable. However, residents of the area denied these claims when talking to newsmen.
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 offered an intoxicating substance to his victims before removing their clothes and beating them to death.
