At least 20 people were tortured to death and four other injured on Saturday night by the custodian of a shrine in Sargodha.
Police have arrested seven suspects along with the custodian Abdul Waheed.
Sargodha Deputy Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatta says that Abdul Waheed, the successor of Ali Muhammad Gujjar, is mentally unstable and employee of Election Commission.
Abdul Waheed and his accomplices gave intoxicated food to the 22 people present on the shrine and later murdered them after attacking with dagger and sticks, added the DC.
The killings were reported by an injured woman who arrived at District Hospital Sargodha, he said, adding that she was one of three survivors who managed to flee from the scene of the crime.
Acting on her information, a heavy contingent of police rushed to the shrine and arrested Waheed and two others, he said.
At least 19 bodies were recovered from the shrine, he said. Three women and 16 men were among those killed, he added. Police later claimed to have recovered another body, raising the death toll to 20.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif while taking notice of the incident has summoned report from the authorities.
