UMERKOT: Mirpurkhas antiterrorism court on Saturday remanded in judicial custody 18 suspects in the case of torching body of blasphemy suspect, Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar, till Oct 2.

Nine of the suspects had been arrested earlier and the other nine were nabbed by Umerkot police and produced in the court on Saturday. They were identified as Lakhmeer, Arshad Ali, Aleem Samejo, Mashooq Khaskheli, Fakeer Mohammad Palijo, Mohammad Saleem Sand, Badar Panhwar, Abdul Ghaffar and Daud Ranghar.

The court also sent to jail nine sus-pects out of 150 booked by police for setting on fire a police van in front of local press club on Sept 17 during a violent protest against the blasphemy suspect.

The two FIRs registered against Dr Shahnawaz at Sindhri police station accusing him of attacking police party hadbeen declaredfalse and disposed of.

Meanwhile, complainant in the FIRs Ibrahim Kunbhar, brother-in-law of Dr Shahnawaz, told Dawn that he was not taken into confidence over change of investigation officer and said investigation of both cases of torching of the body and police van had been transferred to Mirpurkhas DSP without consulting with the bereaved family. The transfer within the division would not have anyaffect on the probe, he said.

TLP chief irked by FIR against party leader Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi said in a press statement issued here on Saturday that increasing incidents of blasphemy was a worrying sign.

He reacted strongly to registration of what he regarded as a false case against TLP emir of South Sindh, Pir Agha Umar Jan Sirhandi. The case should be closed immediately and an impartial investigation should be conducted into the Umerkot incident, he demanded.

He saw increasing incidents of blasphemy in recent days as part of a nefariousconspiracy. `We will not allow any conspiracy to succeed,` he added.

He wondered how the law of this country could allow registration of false FIRs against peaceful people. The Umerkot incident was being probed with a biased mind to appease anti-religion elements, he said.

He said that people were forced to take law into their own hands against suspected blasphemers as they had no confidence in the country`s judiciary.

He announced that Pir Ayub Jan Sirhandi and other religious leaders would lead a peace procession being organised by Jamaat Ahle Sunnat from Mirpurkhas to Umerkot on Oct 3, and a Hurmat-i-Rasool conference would be held in Umerkot on Oct 6.