Karachi, Apr 18 (PTI) One person was killed when workers of a right-wing religious party attacked a colonial-era worship place of the Ahmadi community in Karachi’s congested Saddar area on Friday.

A spokesperson for the Ahmadi community, Aamir Mahmood, told the media that the workers of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) attacked the worship place in the afternoon to prevent people from observing religious rituals.

Mahmood said one person was killed in the attack and others injured as well.

“Laeeq Cheema was an active figure of our community and he was attacked by TLP workers who recognised him and lynched him,” he said.

Preedy Station House Officer (SHO) Shabbir Husain said the TLP workers claimed Laeeq was filming them and he came under attack by a mob.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said: “[Around] 400 Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) workers gathered at their worship hall but heavy presence of police helped move around 40-50 people in the hall to a safer location.” He said protection was provided to the Ahmadi community members present inside the place of worship.

He said the incident involving the deceased took place some distance away from the hall.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) deplored the incident and said it was “appalled” and denounced it as a “failure of law and order” that was a “stark reminder of the continued complicity of the state in the systematic persecution of a beleaguered community”.

There has been an increase in attacks on Ahmadi worship places in recent months in parts of the country with the TLP playing a leading role in the attacks. PTI CORR GSP GSP