Pakistani police are responsible for killing a doctor held in a blasphemy claim, the government says

Associated Press

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s government says its investigation shows that police had orchestrated the killing of a doctor accused of blasphemy while he was held in custody last week. The interior minister in Sindh province says officers then lied about the circumstances of the man’s  death, claiming he was killed in a shootout between police and armed men. The statement marked the first time the government had accused security forces of what the doctor’s family and rights groups have said amounted to a case of extrajudicial killing carried out by police. The minister says the doctor’s family will be able to file murder charges against the officers responsible for his death.