Initial probe finds no evidence of Mashal committing blasphemy: police

MARDAN: Police have collected evidence from the hostel room of Mashal Khan – the Abdul Wali Khan University Student who was accused of committing blasphemy and killed by an angry mob on Thursday.

DIG Mardan Alam Shinwari speaking to The News reporter Mushtaq Yousafzai said in the initial investigation there had been no evidence found that Mashal was involved in blasphemy.  

“Till now no evidence has been found which proves Mashal spoke anything controversial about religion or his involvement in blasphemy,” DIG Mardan said.   

The postmortem report revealed that Mashal died from a gunshot wound, sources told Geo News. 

Police have registered two separate cases against 20 suspects under clauses 427, 297, 302 and 148 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Police has arrested four more of the nominated suspects, bringing the number of total arrested suspects to 12. 

Earlier today, eight suspects were presented in an anti-terrorism court which granted the police a four-day physical remand of the arrested individuals.

Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday, Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said he had been in contact with the police and according to reports so far, nothing had emerged until now which suggested that Mashal committed blasphemy. “We have taken out the student’s mobile record and it does not show any text or any such thing.”

According to The News, a report compiled by the university said that on April 13 at about 1:00PM, a group of students in the form of a mob stormed the Journalism and Mass Communication Department in search of three students, including Mashal Khan. The report added that Provost Fayyaz Ali Shah, director administration and security in-charge, along with police officials entered the Journalism and Mass Communication department to bring the situation under control. However, the report states that the mob turned violent and beat up the students.

According to the report, Chief Proctor Dr Idrees and Ziaullah Hamdard, who is a lecturer at Journalism Department, and director sports were already present in the office of the chairman Journalism Department. Later, the mob attacked Hostel Number 1 and shot Mashal Khan dead and were about to burn his body when the police arrived. It said an investigation was being carried out and a detailed report would be submitted soon.

Judicial Inquiry

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak has signed the summary of a judicial inquiry into the murder Mashal Khan.

"A judicial inquiry will be conducted for Khan's murder," spokesperson KP government Mushtaq Ghani said while talking to Geo News. "The summary for a judicial inquiry into the case has been sent to Peshawar High Court."

Read more: Mashal's killing barbaric act 

Police inspect the hostel where Mashal Khan was killed by an angry mob on April 13 – AFP

Fake Facebook account

It was learnt that the deceased student, in December last year, had informed about a fake account being operated in his name on social networking website Facebook. The 23-year-old had mentioned in his post that whoever was operating his fake account was trying to blackmail him.

Read more: Mashal Khan informed of a fake account operated in his name

Khan had expressed fears that the one operating the account could be one of his friends, who might be using it to defame him. He had expressed the same thoughts via his Twitter handle.

Some posts on Khan's Facebook profile show him expressing his utmost respect for the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Last interview 

“Everyone is a thief,” said Mashal in a past interview to a private TV channel which emerged a day after his brutal murder at the hands of a mob that accused him of blasphemy. 

In his last interview, the deceased student talked about the situation in his university and said the career of multiple students was in limbo due to the absence of the vice-chancellor.

Mashal highlighted that the vice-chancellor of Abdul Wali Khan University hadn't visited the campus since March 20 and had not signed the degrees of a number of students.

'Always respected religion'

Mashal's grieving father told Geo News his deceased son had always respected religion and was focused primarily on his education.

"Mashal used to talk about the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) with the family members at home. His prime focus was on education," the father, a local poet, said.

Read more: Malala strongly criticises Mashal’s killing in video message

"Everyone here is a witness to this.. he always respected religion. He was a critic of the system, he rarely spoke, just used to stay silent mostly," the father lamented.

"Being a father, I want justice," he demanded from the authorities.