Police arrest seven self-claimed faith healers in Hafizabad

HAFIZABAD - In a crackdown against self-claimed spiritual healers, the police apprehended seven persons from Hafizabad on Monday.

The local police raided different areas, including Bijli Muhalla, Baban Bukhari, Khairabad, and Rahmatabad to arrest them.

Police have registered cases of fraud against the arrested, reported Geo News.

The districtwide crackdown was conducted after the custodian of a shrine in Sargodha confessed to have killed 20 people because he feared that they had come to kill him.

During the initial investigation, the custodian of Ali Mohammad Shrine, who along with his seven aides, planned and killed 20 people, told the police that he had killed those people because they had poisoned his spiritual leader Ali Muhammad to death some two years ago.

"The suspect appears to be paranoid and psychotic, or it could be related to rivalry for the control of shrine," Hameed said, adding that the investigation was continuing.

The police have arrested the custodian along with his four close associates and shifted them to an undisclosed location.

Waheed and his accomplices, wielding batons and knives, mercilessly killed the intoxicated victims after stripping them off.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif took immediate notice of the incident and formed an inquiry committee comprising regional police officers Sunday morning.