HARIPUR: Two more witnesses were questioned during the eleventh hearing of Mashal Khan murder case on Saturday.
Justice Subhan Khan presided over the hearing held in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the central jail. So far, 43 witnesses have been questioned in the case.
The next hearing for the case has been scheduled for November 1.
Earlier, prime witness Sayab backtracked on his recorded statement that he had been present in the crowd at Abdul Wali Khan University during the lynching of Mashal Khan and that he had seen Imran Ali, the main suspect, open fire on him.
Mashal Khan’s father Iqbal Khan and counsel Fazal Khan said that the witness had been pressurised by the main suspect into backtracking on his statement.
Earlier this week, Deputy Director Prosecution Zafar Abbas, appointed by the provincial government, also quit from the legal team citing personal reasons. Iqbal Khan’s private lawyer said that the prosecutor had not appeared in any of the case hearings except the first one on September 19.
On July 27, the case hearings were moved from Mardan to Abbottabad on Iqbal’s request. He had expressed concerns for his and his family’s safety since the accused were present in Mardan. Two members of Peshawar High Court bench gave orders for the case to be moved to ATC Abbottabad and the accused to be moved to Central Jail Haripur.
Mashal Khan, a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, was lynched by a violent mob on April 13, over accusations of “blasphemy”.