Mashal case: AWKUM admin did not inform police of situation when summoned

ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police submitted a detailed report on Mashal Khan’s killing to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The report was submitted in the apex court by Mardan RPO Alam Khan Shinwari.

According to sources, the report states that the university administration phoned Mardan police at 12:52 PM on April 13 and asked them to reach the campus, without mentioning the incident.

Mardan DSP Haider Khan reached the university and saw an angry mob torturing Mashal Khan’s friend, Abdullah. DSP Haider Khan intervened and rescued Abdullah, the report states, adding that police has obtained call data records of Haider Khan as well as the CCTV footage of the incident.

The report mentions that the lynching survivor Abdullah recorded his statement under CRPC 164, in which he said the university administration was unhappy with Mashal and had been conducting an inquiry against Mashal for blasphemy on the day of the killing. 

Abdullah was summoned by the enquiry committee on April 13 and forced to give a deposition against Mashal, but he refused. Abdullah was then shut in a bathroom, the report quotes his statement.

Read: Mardan lynching survivor says university administration was ‘deadly’ against Mashal

On April 16, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar took suo moto notice of the murder of Mashal Khan by fellow students over allegations of blasphemy, and directed Inspector General Police KP Salahuddin Khan Mehsud to present a report on the incident within the next 36 hours.

Mehsud in a press conference on Monday reaffirmed that no concrete evidence of blasphemy was found against the slain Abdul Wali Khan student Mashal Khan and his surviving colleagues Abdullah and Zubair.

The IG stated that a complete report on the investigation against the lynching would be submitted to the apex court on Tuesday.

“I will ensure that the investigation is impartial,” he assured reporters. “Details of the incident will be submitted to the Supreme Court [on Tuesday]. It will contain all major and minute details of our investigation.”

On April 13, Mashal Khan was lynched at his university campus premises by an angry mob that accused him of committing blasphemy while another student Abdullah was injured.

So far, 22 individuals have been arrested in the murder case, including six employees of the university. "The suspects were identified through closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras," a police spokesperson disclosed earlier. "The suspects will be presented in an anti-terrorism court."  

Read more: Fresh arrests in Mashal lynching case, 22 suspects in custody

Mehsud also informed that police had sought the FIA’s help in the probe. “We have sought the help of FIA because there are manufactured, edited pictures and videos on social media sites for which we need an expert opinion of the FIA.”

A suspect in the lynching of Mashal Khan, identified as Wajahat, confessed in a statement recorded before the magistrate yesterday and placed blame on the administration of the university.

He claimed the administration had called the meeting to decide the case of Mashal Khan but the situation got out of hand when he testified against the three students and the security in-charge, named Bilal Baksh, came to the meeting and warned “that anyone taking the side of Mashal and his comrades would be dealt with iron hands.”

Wajahat added that Bilal had said he would kill Mashal. Following Bilal’s statement the sitting congress turned into a violent mob and rushed towards the hostel.

Read more: Mashal lynching suspect says acted on university admin’s directions