At least 20 people, including six members of a family, were drugged and killed with batons and knives at a shrine allegedly by its "mentally ill" custodian and his associates in a village in Pakistan's Punjab province
A view of the cordoned off Sufi shrine where three suspects including the shrine's custodian killed at least 20 people . Pic/AFP
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Lahore: At least 20 people, including six members of a family, were drugged and killed with batons and knives at a shrine allegedly by its "mentally ill" custodian and his associates in a village in Pakistan's Punjab province. Sargodha Deputy Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatta said that the incident took place at the dargah (shrine) of Muhammad Ali Gujjar in a village in Sargodha district, at around midnight Saturday.
The shrine custodian 50-year-old Abdul Waheed, who was apparently suffering from a critical mental disorder', used a dagger and sticks to kill his victims, he said, adding Waheed had phoned the victims, telling them to come to the shrine. Two women and as many men managed to escape, in an injured condition, from the shrine. One of them reported the crime to locals who then informed the police.
The shrine was built about two years ago on the grave of local religious leader Ali Gujjar. People would come to the dargah for "cleansing" their sins and allow the caretakers to beat them with clubs. "But in this case the visitors were first drugged and then stabbed with daggers and hit with clubs, apparently during the cleansing process," Chatha said. He said that the prime suspect is an employee of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
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