PESHAWAR: Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who created blasphemous sketches of the Prophet of Islam [MPBUH], has died in a car accident on Sunday.
Vilks has been under the police protection since he made the blasphemous caricatures in 2007. Swedish police have confirmed that Lars Vilks, 75, was killed Sunday in a car-truck collision, according to AFP. According to the police, the accident took place when his car collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction as a result both the vehicles caught fire. The police said that his two bodyguards were also killed in the accident, while the truck driver was injured and is being treated at a hospital.
The Swedish police said in a statement that the cause of the crash was not immediately known, however, they are still investigating the incident. A police spokesperson denied that the incident was the result of any attack but said that the tragedy is still being probed. The spokesperson informed that the police authorities have assigned a special section of the prosecutor’s office to probe the deaths of cartoonist and the police officers.
Lars Vilks had created blasphemous sketches of Muhammad (s.a.w.) in 2007, which drew very strong reaction from the Muslim world. The controversial sketches also sparked diplomatic tensions, and then-Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt met with diplomats from several Muslim countries to ease the situation.
The militant group Al-Qaeda had also announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the controversial artist. According to the Associated Press, two men also tried to set fire to his house in southern Sweden in 2010. Also last year, a Pennsylvania woman was convicted of plotting to assassinate him. The artists also survived an assassination attempt in 2015 while attending a ceremony in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. However, the Danish filmmakers were killed by gunfire.
[Some information in this report is taken from the news agencies ‘AFP’ and ‘AP’].
