ABBOTTABAD: The anti-terrorism court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of Mashal Khan murder case after a prime witness in the case disowned his earlier statement.
During the hearing at the camp court in Haripur Central Prison under the supervision of ATC Judge Fazal Subhan, four witnesses were to give statements, but the prime witness Saryab Khan backtracked on his earlier statement, which made the court to adjourn the hearing till next week.
Mashal’ father Iqbal Khan told a private TV channel that the prime witness, Sayab Khan, backtracked on his earlier statement at the start of the hearing, alleging that the witness was being pressurised by the accused party, saying they would take the matter to Peshawar High Court (PHC).
Witness Sayab had earlier said that he was present in the crowd at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan on the day Mashal was killed and that he had seen Imran Ali, the main suspect, open fire on Mashal.
Earlier, a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on July 27 ordered the case be moved to Abbottabad ATC and shifted the accused to the Central Jail Haripur. This development came after Iqbal Khan requested the court that he feared for the safety of family if the case was pursued in Mardan because the accused were also present in Mardan.
Mashal, a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, was lynched by a mob on April 13 on the pretext of blasphemy.
