HARIPUR: The Mashal Khan lynching case took a new turn on Wednesday when the first private witness backed off from his statement that he had recorded before the judicial magistrate, Mardan, that he had seen one of the principal accused opening fire at the student.

Four private prosecution witnesses were to testify before the Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Fazali Subhan Khan. However, the prosecution lawyers had to abandon three of them for the time being when the first witness, Sayab Mohammad, a student of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, changed his statement, accusing Mardan police of forcing him to record statement before the court under section 164 of CrPc in favour of the prosecution.

He told the court that Mardan police had kept him detained for eight days, using coercive methods for his statement. He testified before the court that he did not see Imran, one of the two principal accused, open fire on Mashal Khan, a student of the varsity lynched by a mob. He said he did not even know the father’s name of Imran and where he lived.

After Sayab’s statement, the prosecution counsel, Sardar Abdul Rauf Khan, Ayaz Khan, Hafiz Kala Khan, Barrister Ahmer and three official prosecutors filed an application before the ATC declaring Sayab as hostile witness who, they said, had been tempted by the defence side to change his statement.

The prosecution lawyers sought time from the court for preparing their rest of three witnesses.

However, the court pressed the prosecution for either completing the statements of their witnesses or abandoning them. The prosecution counsel, after some arguments, announced to abandon them temporarily.

The court accepted their application, seeking abandonment of three witnesses and adjourned the hearing in the case till Oct 25.

The prosecution counsel told the court that since their request for giving time for preparing the witnesses was not accepted they would challenge the decision in the Peshawar High Court.

WORKERS PROTEST: Workers of a private firm engaged in work at the Tarbela Dam’s fourth extension project on Wednesday demonstrated against the management of violating labour laws.

According to Aslam Adil, a labour leader and general secretary of VIOTH Germany & China, a consortium that is carrying out electrical and mechanical work on the project, told reporters that the VIOTH management had been depriving workers of their rights for last two years.

He said the workers had got their union registered with director labour Haripur, but the management on Wednesday disallowed 16 workers to enter the work area, leading to suspension of work by their colleagues.

He said the angry workers chanted slogans against the consortium.

However, later general manager power house Sher Afzal Khan and project director Sohail Khan allowed the workers to resume their duties.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2017