MARDAN: As a new video footage showing a mob vowing to trace Abdul Wali Khan University student Mashal Khan and kill him surfaced on Saturday, another suspect confessed to his involvement in the lynching of Mr Khan over blasphemy charges.

The two-minute video shared on social media and WhatsApp groups shows the mob of angry youths pledging to search everywhere to find Mashal Khan.

The mobsters are also heard shouting “Allah-o-Akbar”.

A youth says that a teacher has helped Mashal Khan to hide. Another youth with long hair, who has blood stains on his clothes and a piece of rope in his hands, asks the mob to kill the student even if they find him in a mosque.

Another one among the mob says that Mashal Khan is an apostate and has committed blasphemy.

In the cacophony of voices, one of the mobsters declares that they will even go to jail to hunt the student.

The long-haired boy uses strong language for Mashal Khan saying that they would not care about him since he has disgraced Islam. Another youth adds, “God, we are ready and present”.

The mob also discusses blocking roads.

At the end of the video, one of the mobsters tells some others to stop filming the scene.

Meanwhile, a suspect confessed to his involvement in lynching Mashal Khan before first class judicial magistrate Muhib-ur-Rehman.

Police officials told reporters that they presented four suspects in the court of the judicial magistrate — two employees and as many students of the university.

They claimed that one of the suspects, Ashraf Ali, recorded his confessional statement before the judge. He told the court that he was involved in torturing Mashal Khan.

With his confession, the number of the suspects who have confessed to their involvement in the shocking incident has reached three.

The court remanded the three other accused in four-day police custody.

The officials said that the number of suspects arrested in the lynching case had reached 34.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017