Two people from Pakistan’s minority Ahmadiyya community were shot dead at Mandi Bahauddin in the country’s Punjab province on Saturday. Police have arrested the primary suspect and seized the weapon allegedly used in the crime, Dawn reported.
The victims were a 50-year-old man, attacked while on his way back after offering prayers, and a 25-year-old man going to the market, the news outlet reported. The incident occurred in the Sadullapur area of Mandi Bahauddin.
According to The Times Of India, after the incident, a large police force was deployed in the area. The police took the bodies into custody and transported them to a government-run hospital for an autopsy.
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Anwar has ordered the Gujranwala regional police officer to file a report on the incident, Dawn reported.
Mandi Bahauddin District Police Officer (DPO) Ahmad Mohiuddin has reportedly been instructed to form a special team to arrest the other culprits involved. The IGP has assured the bereaved families of justice.
There are an estimated four million Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan, a country of over 220 million people. They are considered non-Muslims among many Muslims and were officially declared so in Pakistan in 1974.
They have been subject to deep persecution in Pakistan – facing mob brutality, bomb attacks, arson, lynchings and other forms of violence, reported Dawn. This has prompted many members of the community to never speak of their religion publicly.
Last month, the president of the Ahmadiyya community in Bahawalpur’s Hasilpur district was shot dead by unknown assailants. In March, police arrested two suspected killers of a man belonging to the Ahmadiyya community, reported Dawn.