Pak cop uses axe to kill blasphemy accused

A Pakistani policeman used an axe to kill a man arrested for allegedly committing blasphemy, officials said yesterday, days after an enraged mob murdered a Christian couple accused of the same crime.

Tufail Haider, a 50-year-old from the minority Shia sect of Islam, was arrested for allegedly making derogatory remarks toward the companions of the Prophet Mohammed and brought to the Civil Lines police station in the eastern city of Gujrat on Wednesday.

"Tufail was kept in the lock-up but he continued uttering derogatory remarks and hurled abuse at policemen. He looked like a malang (wandering preacher) and seemed mentally imbalanced," duty officer Ali Raza told AFP.

"Assistant Sub-Inspector Faraz Naveed, 36, became very angry on hearing the derogatory remarks and he killed the detainee with an axe in the lock up," he added.

Naveed has been arrested and legal proceedings have been started against him, he added.

A Christian bonded labourer and his pregnant wife were killed Tuesday for alleged desecrating pages of the Quran in the eastern village of Chak 59, sparking condemnation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.