MARDAN: A first information report (FIR) has been registered against members of a lynch mob that brutally assaulted Mashal and his fellow student over allegations of blasphemy in Mardan the other day. The FIR was lodged in Sheikh Maltoon Police Station against 20 suspects, of whom eight have been arrested, Mardan District Police Officer Dr Mian Saeed said. The suspects were identified through video footage of the incident, while the police have formed three teams to arrest the remaining suspects, he stated. On April 13, Abdul Wali Khan University students Mashal and Abdullah were targeted by a violent mob on campus premises that killed Mashal and injured Abdullah for allegedly “publishing blasphemous content online”, according to police. The campus was shut down following the incident until further notice and its hostels vacated to avoid escalation in violence. Meanwhile, talking to Mashaal Radio ? a Pashto news service in Federally Administered Tribal Areas – Mashal’s father Iqbal said that the police had asked him to name suspects, to which he responded by saying that footage from cameras at the crime scene could be used to identify the suspects. “It wasn’t just my son, other people were also injured. The government’s writ has been challenged,” he maintained. He said that no one in his neighbourhood had ever had a problem with any of his sons. He said that Mashal, when discussing various issues, would often give references of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in his arguments. The funeral prayer of Mashal was offered early Friday in Kalu Khan, Swabi district, where he was laid to rest.
