ISLAMABAD: Additional Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during suo moto hearing of Mashal Khan lynching case on Wednesday, informed the Supreme Court that 53 suspects of the crime have been arrested.
The KP government lawyer referring the provincial police report, informed three judges bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, that 49 arrested accused have been in jail and four have been sent on remand while two others have escaped.
He also informed the bench that the key suspect in the case, Imran, has been arrested and he has accepted his crime.”
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar observed during the hearing that there was a campaign behind the murder of Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old university student who was lynched by a mob on accusations of blasphemy last month.
“The news of the lynching did not even reach the police,” the chief justice exclaimed.
He was chairing a three-member bench of the apex court conducting a suo motu hearing of the incident that occurred on the premises of .
Mashal was attacked by a vigilante mob in Abdul Wali Khan University in April, incited by rumours, for allegedly “publishing blasphemous content online”. The mass communication student was beaten and shot by the mob and succumbed to the injuries he received.
The chief justice asked the government lawyer how a trial court will conduct hearing on an interim chargesheet? The lawyer informed that the final chargesheet of the case will be submitted before Ramazan. The chief justice questioned the role of police during the incident. Government lawyer said that after the university employees the role of the administration during the incident will now be determined.
The Chief Justice addressing father of Mashal Khan,Iqbal Jan, said that providing justice to his son is the responsibility of the court.
Later talking to media after the hearing Iqbal Jan said he was thankful of the chief justice for the hearing. “I want opening of the university and safety of the students in the institution.”
