Pakistan’s government has said that police had orchestrated the killing of a doctor who was in custody after he was accused of blasphemy. Dr Shah Nawaz, from the southern Sindh province, had given himself up to police in Mirpur Khas, following assurances that he would be given a chance to prove his innocence. Officers then lied about the circumstances of Shah Nawaz’s death, claiming he was killed in a shootout between police and armed men. A mob had claimed Nawaz insulted Islam’s Prophet and shared blasphemous content on social media and demanded his arrest. The mob also burned Nawaz’s clinic. The statement marks the first time the government has accused security forces of what the doctor’s family and rights groups have said amounted to an extrajudicial killing carried out by police.