Thousands of supporters of Mumtaz Qadri gathered for his funeral Tuesday, sparking fears of violence, as police and troops threw a tight cordon around flash points.
Thousands of police were deployed at main junctions and sensitive buildings in the capital Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, officials said, including along the route set to be taken by Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral procession.
Leaders of religious parties assured government that procession will remain peaceful. Still no media coverage is given to the massive funeral procession but videos and pictures of massive procession jolted the social media.
Roads around martyred Qadri’s home in Rawalpindi remained open, however.
Qadri, a police bodyguard to Salmaan Taseer, shot the liberal Punjab governor 28 times at an Islamabad market in 2011.
He said he was angry at the politician’s calls to reform the blasphemy law.
