Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday announced that the man who tried saving the Sri Lankan national during the recent lynching incident will be awarded the Tamgha i Shujaat — the second-highest civil award for bravery bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, foreign media reports said.

“On behalf of the nation, I want to salute moral courage & bravery of Malik Adnan who tried his utmost to shelter & save Priyantha Diyawadana from the vigilante mob in Sialkot, [including] endangering his own life by physically trying to shield victim. We will award him Tamgha i Shujaat,” the premier wrote on Twitter.

It should be noted that following Friday’s incident when Diyawadanage Don Nandasri Priyantha — a manager in a factory — was lynched by an angry mob and his body was set ablaze following “blasphemy” allegations, footage showing Good Samaritans attempting to save him and later, his body, from the violent group had emerged on social media, Geo News reported.

A man clad in a red sweater — identified as Malik Adnan — jumped in and tried to save his colleague Priyantha as the mob thrashed him. He formed a protective shield over him with his own body and bore the beating for a while but was unable to continue putting up resistance after a point.

After Priyantha was killed, another man, wearing a black jacket, could be seen joining his palms together and pleading to the mob to spare the body and not set it on fire. But he was tossed aside by the vicious crowd.

PM Imran Khan has also assured Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that Pakistan would ensure justice following the tragic Sialkot lynching which occurred a day earlier.

The prime minister, in a tweet on Saturday, said he conveyed the nation’s anger and shame to the people of Sri Lanka at the killing of Priyantha.

Meanwhile, at least 13 key suspects were remanded Sunday to police custody in a case relating to the lynching of the Sri Lankan.