A Gujranwala anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted the person first accused in the lynching of Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara and sentenced them to one year imprisonment and Rs10,000 fine, reported Aaj News

In a video published on his YouTube channel, the convict, reportedly named Adnan, admitted that the lynching and setting Kumara's body on fire were justified acts. He assisted the accused in the incident.

A case was registered at Sialkot's Rangpor Police Station after the video went viral on social media in December, last year.

Politicians, religious scholars and people across the country were equally shocked when Kumara was lynched to death over blasphemy charges on December 3, 2021. One of the factory managers, Malik Adnan, tried to save the victim. However, his efforts did not affect the the violent and charged mob. Later Kumara's body was set on fire.

Reports emerged that factory workers disliked Kumara, who was a textile engineer, as he was a strict manager and he enforced discipline at the work place.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against hundreds of unidentified men, including workers of the factory. Scores have since been arrested and are facing investigation.

The Punjab government and the prosecution team in December decided to conduct a jail trial of the high-profile case due to security concerns.

Earlier, the ATC extended the physical remand of 34 accused in the case on the request of the police after their remand had ended, reported The News.

In the initial challan of the case, the police nominated 85 accused in the case, including 12 to 13 main accused. The others who assisted the main accused were mostly workers of the factory.