Mardan lynching: SC wants quick probe into Mashal murder

K-P progress report names varsity employee as chief instigator

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court told the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police to speed up the investigation in Mashal Khan’s lynching case.

The three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, observed that although they do not want to interfere in the investigation, but it should be quickly done without wasting time.

During the hearing of the suo motu case taken up by the apex court, Additional Advocate-General of K-P Waqar Khan submitted a progress report on behalf of K-P police, stating that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had been reconstituted and representatives of ISI, MI, FIA, Special Branch had been added.



The report stated that the JIT has held several meetings, visited the crime scene and met members of the university’s administration and examined the accused.

The DG Prosecution, it stated, had formed a three-member team, including DPP Mardan as its convener and two public prosecutors as members to assist police in the investigation. As many as 36 accused have so far been arrested. They were taken to the crime scene for pointation of their role.

It stated that Bilal Bakhsh, a university employee who was the chief instigator of the whole incident, had also been arrested, adding that nine among detainees were university employees. Four of the arrested persons were in police remand while 32 of them were in judicial lock-up in Mardan.



Three witnesses recorded their statements before the judicial magistrate under Section 164 CrPC while six other detainees recorded their confessions before a judicial magistrate, admitting their involvement.

According to the police, the person who fired at the deceased had been identified and teams had been constituted for his arrest.

Later, the DIG Mardan held a press conference maintaining that the shooter, who was one of Mashal’s class fellows, had been arrested.



The report stated that all evidence collected from the crime scene had already been sent for forensic analysis and the video footage was still being analysed.

After going through the report, the bench adjourned the case for two weeks.