Mardan lynching: Six more testify over Mashal murder

ATC reserves judgment on bail pleas from 32 suspects; hearing adjourned till Oct 4

HARIPUR: The hearing of Mashal murder case continued on Thursday in Haripur Central Jail where an anti-terrorism court (ATC) recorded statements of six more witnesses, taking the total number of witnesses testifying in the case to 20.

Judge Fazal Subhan Khan, of ATC Abbottabad, adjourned till October 4 the hearing of the case involving 57 persons accused of murdering Mashal Khan, a student of Mardan’s Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU), in April this year.



Mashal was lynched by fellow students on university campus over accusations of blasphemy, which proved false after a probe by a 13-member joint investigation team.

After hearing the witnesses, the ATC also reserved judgment on bail pleas from 32 suspects. The judgment is expected any time.

The ATC recorded statements of six policemen and AWKU's employees, including Personal Assistant to Registrar Rehman Shah, who delivered the footage of the angry mob lynching Mashal to the police through a USB.

The five others were: Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Ahsan, who was a witness to the CCTV footage delivery to police officers; university employee Ishfaq, who confirmed the identity of employees and the witnesses; hostel warden Yaseen, who presented the hostel record; clerk Abdullah, who verified the students; and ASI Ejaz, who prepared the inquest report.



Mashal’s father Iqbal Lala, his lawyer and prosecution officers were also present during the hearing.

Lawyers Fazalul Haq Abbasi, Jawed Khan Tanoli, Malik Amjad, Atif Jadoon, Ashfaque Lodhi and others from nearby districts representing the suspects in the case were also present.

Media-persons were barred from entering the court premises during the proceedings while troops were deployed outside the special courtroom to avoid any untoward incident.

(ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)