Mashal Khan lynching case: Accused Arif handed over to police on remand

F.P. Report

MARDAN: Main accused Arif Mardanvi on Friday has been handed over to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police on a three-day remand in the lynching case of Mashal Khan.

The accused was presented before Justice Abdur Rauf in session court during which, the security officers demanded his remand.

Earlier on Thursday, KP police arrested Arif Khan, who had reportedly challenged the law enforcement agencies to detain him in an emotional speech after the lynching. Mardan District Police Officer (DPO) Mian Saeed said that the police apprehended him near the Chamtar Union Council of the Mardan district.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan took to Twitter to praise the act of KP police. He said, “I want to commend the KP police for succeeding in arresting the main accused in the Mashal Khan murder case, Arif Rangi, a PTI councillor.”

“This is how a professional and depoliticised police force works, in contrast to the politicised police forces of Punjab and Sindh,” he added.

Mashal Khan, a mass communication student at Mardan’s Abdul Wali Khan University, was lynched to death by a mob of angry students on 13th April last year over rumors that he and his friends committed blasphemy.

On February 8, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Haripur had sentenced accused Imran to death and five others to 25 years in jail.

ATC Jugde Fazal Khan Subhan read out the verdicts against each of the 57 men accused in the case one-by-one. Tight security arrangements were in place due to the sensitivity of the case, with roads leading to the Haripur Central jail being closed. The court had also acquitted 26 people in the case.

After Mashal’s murder, Supreme Court of Pakistan’s chief justice took notice and ordered a judicial inquiry. For this purpose, a joint investigation team was formed to investigate what led to the gruesome murder.

The JIT report had revealed that the lynching Mashal who was falsely accused of blasphemy was organized by other students from his own secular political group who viewed him as a rival and faculty members who resented his criticism of the university.

The report also revealed that officials from the university administration were also involved in his murder. The report also stated that there were no solid proofs found about blasphemy committed by Mashal and his friends.

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