Mardan police arrest proclaimed offender in Mashal Khan lynching case

MARDAN: In a major breakthrough, Mardan police on Thursday arrested a proclaimed offender in Mashal Khan lynching case.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Mardan Dr Mian Saeed, Izharullah alias Johni arrested in the jurisdiction of the Saddar police station in a raid.

Police recovered a rifle and pistol from possession of the accused. The arrest came after eight months of the incident.

The arrest brought the total number of held suspects to 58 in the horrific lynching incident, while three proclaimed offenders, including the main accused, are still at large.

‘No evidence of blasphemy against Mashal’

In April last year, Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Salahuddin Khan Mehsud told a press conference that police had found no evidence to support the blasphemy allegations against Mashal Khan and condemned the university authorities for investigating the case without police involvement.

The DPO said six people suspected of involvement in the incident have been identified as university employees. Technical teams have been formed to conduct special operation for arrest of other suspects as well, he added.

A group of university students and employees beat the Mass Communication student, Mashal, to death on April 13, 2017.

The brutality of the attack, recorded on a mobile phone camera, shocked the public and led to widespread condemnation, including from prominent clerics.