by Junaid Yousafzai
Parents and relatives of the accused arrested in the Mashal Khan lynching case have rejected the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report and blamed the relevant officials for using delay tactics to submit the challan of the case in the anti-terrorist court.
The parents and relatives of accused in the Mashal murder case were speaking at a press conference held on Thursday after a protest rally from Bacha Khan Chowk to the Mardan Press Club.
They alleged that members of the JIT had presented only one side of the picture in their report relating to the lynching of Mashal Khan, ignoring the real facts and other important things.
District Councillors Mumtaz Bahadar, Sardar Khan, Dr Sahibzada, Dr Sherwali and Ameer Muhammad Khan led the protesting parents and relatives of the accused.
On the occasion, Dr Sahibzada told they had been passing through a very critical situation inside and outside their homes since the Mashal Khan’s murder on April 13, 2017, on the premises of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan.
He claimed that police had arrested 57 suspects in the Mashal Khan lynching case so far, wherein most of them were innocent. He claimed that their youngsters, who were detained by police in the said case, were innocent that they had no role in the murder of Mashal Khan as they were arrested on basis of suspicion.
Sardar Ali Khan alleged that police had submitted challan of the case in the office of the district public prosecutor three to four day ago but it was yet to be submitted in the relevant anti-terrorist court. Police and other officials concerned have been using delaying tactics in the submission of the challan, which is creating difficulties and complications for families of the accused.
He also blamed that police had been physically torturing the suspects arrested in the said case in the jail.
Mumtaz Bahadar lamented that some political parties had made the issue as politicised and were trying to take political advantages from the said incident.
He asked authorities concerned not to transfer the case from district Mardan on the demand of father of Mashal Khan as it would create manifold difficulties for around 60-families of the accused. Here in Mardan, he claimed that father of Mashal Khan was fully secured.
On the occasion, the parents and relatives of accused had set June 10 (tomorrow) as deadline for relevant officials to submit challan in the anti-terrorist court so that further legal process could be started; otherwise, they would be forced to launch an aggressive protest agitation for the fulfillment of their demands and then the authorities concerned would be responsible for all kind of consequences.
