LUSAKA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- What started as a small event in Chingola district in Zambia's Copperbelt Province where unknown people started spraying unknown chemical in people's homes has now spread to all parts of the country.

The issue of spraying of people's homes and public institutions with chemicals has instilled fear and security uncertainty, forcing the government to deploy soldiers to start conducting patrols at night.

However, mystery still surrounds who the people behind what has come to be known as gassing are or what their motives are although unconfirmed reports indicate that it is for ritual purposes.

The chemicals make people to faint and have difficulties in breathing while the "gasers" do not steal anything from their victims.

What has annoyed both members of the public and authorities is the emergency of instant justice mobs who are killing people suspected of being behind the gassing.

According to police figures, so far 43 people have been killed, some burnt by the instant justice mobs while 23 were injured after being suspected of spraying chemicals.

The police have further said a number people have so far been arrested in connection with the spraying of chemicals.

Police figures have also revealed that 511 reports of spraying of chemicals on households have so far been recorded with 1,687 victims while 11 police stations have been damaged countrywide due to public disorder, the police said in an update.

Repeated pleas from government officials and other stakeholders for the instant mob justice to end have not yielded any positive results as the country is still experiencing the brutal killing of people suspected of spraying chemicals.

On the other hand, politicians from both the ruling party and opposition have started accusing each other of sponsoring the spraying of chemicals.

The ruling party is accusing the opposition of trying to use the incidents to force regime change, a claim the opposition have dismissed.

Sunday Chanda, Director of Media for the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) said acts of mob injustice and gassing that the country has witnessed were being orchestrated by enemies of the state whose agenda is to instill fear and trigger anger in a democratically elected government.

Speaking at a weekly forum organized by the ruling party, he said enemies have been pushing for regime change for sometime and are using different tactics.

The police, on the other hand, have appealed to members of the public to stop taking the law into their own hands by killing suspects.

"We continue appealing to members of the public to desist from taking the law into their own hands but should rather apprehend the suspects and hand them over to police," police spokesperson Ether Mwaata-Katongo said.

However, the Inspector-General of the Zambia Police Kakoma Kanganja said the security situation in some parts of the country where there was public disorder has improved as the number of reports involving members of the public taking the law into their own hands have reduced.

The police chief revealed that an investigation team comprising various stakeholders has been constituted to conduct investigations into the gassing incidences and that a conclusive outcome of the investigations will be availed to the public. Enditem

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