Police said that the 33 suspects would be presented before an anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala on Friday. According to a statement by the police, the remand of 52 other suspects has already been obtained taking the total number of those arrested to 85.
Following the incident, an FIR was registered against 900 people under sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Earlier on December 3, a mob in Sialkot attacked and lynched a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara, who had been working in Pakistan since 2012, and set his body on fire. The ill-fated man was accused of having committed blasphemy.
The graphic videos of the incident circulating on social media shocked the country and elicited widespread condemnation from the citizens.
A few days after the incident a condolence gathering was held for Priyantha Kumara at Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Islamabad, while addressing the ceremony the premier said that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are misused to wrongfully accuse people of sacrilege and kill them in the name of religion, adding that such violence only happens in Pakistan.