Mashal Khan case: 7 more lynching suspects produced before court

MARDAN – Police on Thursday produced seven more suspects in Mashal Murder case in a local court, who were later sent on judicial remand to the central jail, sources said.

Sources said the suspects produced before the court included Muhammad Ajmal Khan, office assistant at central library and president of the employees union of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan (AWKUM), where Mashal was lynched by fellow students for alleged blasphemy.

The suspects also included Anees, assistant at botany department of the university, Mujibullah, Imran, Nasurullah, Shoaib and a student Farhan. Sources said the accused denied involvement in the crime.

On the other hand, the police have also arrested two suspects in the case from Charsadda district. One of the suspects, Muhammad Ishaq Khan, is a student of forth semester at AWKUM and is affiliated with Pakhtun Students’ Federation (PSF), student wing of Awami National Party (ANP). The other arrested suspect was identified as Muhammad Tariq.

Sources said so far 32 suspects have been arrested in the case, while one of the suspects, Farhan, confessed his crime while recording statement before the magistrate.

Meanwhile, District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed and other police officers are avoiding shearing information regarding the case with local journalists. In this connection, Mardan Press Club has announced boycott of police functions. The DPO, though, visited the press club on Wednesday and met senior journalists over the issue.

The DPO excused that he was busy in investigating the case, therefore was unable to respond to journalists’ queries. He complained that the local journalists were not publishing police accomplishments in the case, due to which he was sharing information with Peshawar and Islamabad-based journalists instead of local media persons.

On this occasion, the DPO directed his staff to establish a social media group comprising members of Mardan Press Club so that up-to-date information could be shared with the journalists.

Later, the group was established, however; journalists were passed on with obsolete information. Yet, members of the press club ended boycott of local police coverage.

Source: The Nation