Dozens Arrested in Pakistan after Mob Kill Sri Lankan Factory Manager

Up to 120 people have been arrested in Pakistan after a Sri Lankan factory manager was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob who accused him of blasphemy, officials said on Saturday.

The vigilante attack has caused outrage, with Prime Minister Imran Khan calling it a "day of shame for Pakistan"

Few issues are as galvanizing in Pakistan as blasphemy, and even the slightest suggestion of an insult to Islam can supercharge protests and incite lynchings.

The incident took place on Friday in Sialkot, a district in central Punjab province, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) southeast of the capital Islamabad, reports AFP.

Police on Saturday said that the manager was killed after it was rumoured that "the manager has committed blasphemy".

"Rumour spread in the factory that the manager had torn down a religious poster and thrown it in the dustbin," Zulfiqar Ali, a police official in the area told AFP.

Khurram Shehzad, a police spokesman said up to 120 people had been arrested, included one of the main accused.

Tahir Ashrafi, a religious scholar and special representative of the prime minister on religious harmony, confirmed the arrest and told AFP that workers had complained of the manager being "very strict".

"Police experts are investigating this case from various angles, including that some factory workers played a religious card to take revenge on the manager," Ashrafi said. Shehzad said raids are continuing.