AWKU employee arrested in Mashal lynching case

Police said video evidence shows gate security in charge Bilal Baksh was egging on the mob

PESHAWAR: The Mardan police on Sunday arrested an employee of Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU), Mardan who is believed to be a major instigator of the brutal lynching of student Mashal Khan.

According to the police, Bilal Baksh, who was in charge of gate security at the university, provoked the mob of students and raised slogans to kill Mashal and his friends.

Sources in Sheikh Maltoon Police Station said Baksh was arrested on Sunday morning in a raid on his house after evidence showed him as the main culprit.

“We have assessed all the confessional statements of those arrested in the case, and he (Baksh) is the main man among others who is behind the lynching,” a senior police officer told The Express Tribune. 

Mashal, a 23-year-old student of journalism at AWKU was shot dead and brutally lynched on campus on April 13 after accusations of blasphemy.

Videos of the gruesome incident show agitated students stomping on Mashal’s lifeless, blood-soaked body and hitting him with sticks. More videos that have surfaced since then show a local PTI councillor Arif Mardan congratulating the students for killing Mashal and urging them to pledge to not reveal the identity of Mashal’s shooter.



Another video shows students at the main gate of the varsity searching vehicles exiting the campus looking for Mashal’s body. They reportedly intended to burn him.

Over the past week, video evidence has helped police identify several people involved in the murder.

At least 35 people have been arrested in the case, three of whom have confessed to being part of the lynch mob.

ANP issues show cause notice

Awami National Party (ANP) has served a show cause notice to its district president and Nazim Mardan Himayat Ullah Mayar over his statements on the Mardan lynching case.



Ajmal Mayar, a family member of Himayat Ullah Mayar, who was also an employee of the Abdul Wali Khan University, has also been arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in the killing of Mashal Khan.

A statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz, Peshawar on Sunday directed Himayat Mayar to respond to the show cause notice, in writing, within three days otherwise the party will take strong actions against him.

The statements quoting the provincial president of the party Amir Haider Khan Hoti said that Mayar’s statements relating to the tragedy ABWKUM and his role to reach to the core of the issue are against the policy of the party.

“Our party’s stance is quite clear on this issue,” he was quoted as saying.