ABBOTTABAD: Witnesses in Mashal Khan murder case were cross-examined at Central Prison Haripur on Wednesday.
The hearing was conducted under the supervision of Anti-Terrorism Court Haripur Judge Fazal Subhan.
Until now, 41 witnesses have been cross-examined.
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has appointed a private lawyer to serve as special prosecutor to fight the murder case. Prosecution Deputy Director Zafar Abbas, appointed by the provincial government, had earlier 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.
KP Home and Tribal Affairs Department issued a notification, appointing lawyer Sardar Abdur Rauf Khan as special prosecutor.
Earlier on October 18, 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.
Mashal Khan, a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, was lynched by a violent mob on April 13, over accusations of “blasphemy”.