Priyantha’s remains to be brought to Sri Lanka

The remains of Diyawadanage Don Nandasiri Priyantha Kumara who was killed by a mob in Sialkot in Pakistan is to be brought to Sri Lanka tomorrow (Monday) through SriLankan Airlines at state cost.

The human remains will be received by the next-of-kin at the BIA. The Foreign Ministry is coordinating the matter.

The Sri Lanka High Commission in Islamabad has requested an investigation report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan regarding the death of  Diyawadanage Don. Nandasiri Priyantha Kumara.

The Sri Lanka High Commission in Islamabad, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, is also in discussions with the Pakistan authorities and the employer of the deceased  regarding payment of compensation.

Priyantha Diyawadana was employed as the General Manager Operation at Rajco Industries in Sialkot.

A frenzied mob in Pakistan tortured the Sri Lankan man to death and then burnt his body in public allegedly over blasphemy accusations.

The incident took place on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot on Friday, where reportedly the workers of private factories attacked the export manager, a Sri Lankan national, of a factory and burnt his body after killing him, the Dawn reported.

Sialkot district police officer Umar Saeed Malik said the man was identified as Priyantha Kumara, who was in his 40s.

According to reports, Kumara tore up a poster of the hardline Islamist party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in which Quranic verses were inscribed and threw it in the dustbin.

Hundreds of men, enraged over the “blasphemy” incident, started gathering outside the factory from adjoining areas. Most of them were activists and supporters of the TLP.

“The mob dragged the suspect (the Sri Lankan national) from the factory and severely tortured him. After he succumbed to his wounds, the mob burnt his body before police reached there,” an official said.

Several videos were circulated on social media showing hundreds of men gathered at the site surrounding the body of the Sri Lankan national. They were chanting slogans of the TLP. (Colombo Gazette)