Witnesses cross-examined in Mashal Khan murder case

ABBOTTABAD: Cross-examination of witnesses in Mashal Khan murder case was held at Central Prison Haripur on Wednesday.

The hearing was held under the supervision of Anti-Terrorism Court Haripur Judge Fazal Subhan.

So far cross-examination of 41 witnesses has been completed.

On the other hand, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government appointed a private lawyer as special prosecutor to fight the murder case after deputy director of prosecution, Zafar Abbas, distanced himself from the matter citing personal reasons.

KP Home and Tribal Affairs Department issued a notification, appointing lawyer Sardar Abdur Rauf Khan as special prosecutor.

Prime witness in Mashal Khan murder case backtracks on statement

Deceased’s father and counsel confirmed that witness turned away due to pressure from accused

Prior to that, in one of the hearings held on October 18, the prime witness in the murder case backtracked on his statement. According to sources, when the hearing started the prime witness in the case, Sayab Khan, backtracked on the statement he had made earlier. While talking to Geo News, Mashal’s father Iqbal Khan and counsel Fazal Khan confirmed that Sayab turned away from his statement. They alleged that the witness was being pressurised by the accused party, saying they would take the matter to Peshawar High Court.

The witness had earlier said 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.

Mashal, a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan, was brutally killed by a violent mob on April 13, which had accused him of blasphemy.