Stockholm:  Salwan Momika, the 38-year-man who held several demonstrations in Sweden and was accused of burning the Quran, has been shot dead in the city of Sodertalje in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, Swedish media reported on Thursday.

Momika was allegedly shot dead while he was conducting a live broadcast on social media from his apartment in Hovsjo late on Wednesday, a day before a verdict was scheduled to be announced by the Stockholm District Court in an incitement case against him.

“I can confirm that five people have been arrested, suspected of murder,” prosecutor Rasmus Ohman was quoted as saying by Sweden’s leading daily Dagens Nyheter.

According to the spokesperson for the Stockholm Police Region, the police received a report of the shooting in Hovsjo at 11:11 pm, local time.

The newspaper detailed that the crime scene was investigated overnight and the apartment building remains cordoned off on Thursday with several police officers on site. It was reported that drones have also been sent up over the area.

“The police have been questioning me and they confirmed that he has died,” Salwan Najem, a friend of Salwan Momika, told Swedish state broadcaster SVT.

Najem, who said that he has been told “you’re next”, had also spoken during the night with Momika’s girlfriend. “She started crying and said they killed him,” Najem told SVT.

The desecration of the Quran had sparked an angry reaction from several countries, including Saudi Arabia, which strongly condemned the burning of a copy of the Islamic holy book in the Swedish city of Malmo by Momika, an individual of Iraqi origin, in October 2023.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry had “reiterated the Kingdom’s rejection of such flagrant acts,” and said such a move had inflamed the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide.

Momika had allegedly torn pages of the holy book and also burnt it in full public view during demonstrations.