Weapons were recovered from the the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan on Monday, as the university's campuses reopened for the first time since Mashal Khan, a student at the university, was lynched by a mob on accusations of blasphemy, DawnNews reported.

Guns, pistols and knives were recovered from the university as police ran a search operation.─DawnNews
Guns, pistols and knives were recovered from the university as police ran a search operation.─DawnNews

Police conducted a search operation at the university's hostel early Monday morning and recovered guns, pistols and knives. Drugs were also seized from the hostel.

The university was closed down and hostels were vacated to avoid a further escalation of violence after the lynching incident. The university had remained closed for 40 days.

Read more: Will the Pakistani leadership confront the challenge laid bare by Mashal's murder?

A day earlier, a gathering was held in Swabi to observe Mashal's chehlum. Members of civil society and leaders of political and religious parties present at a gathering called for giving exemplary punishment to the killers of Mashal.

The 23-year-old student of Mass Communication at the Abdul Wali Khan University was attacked by a vigilante mob, incited by rumours, for allegedly "publishing blasphemous content online". Mashal was brutally beaten and shot by the mob and succumbed to the injuries he received lat month.

Explore: How did politicians condemn Mashal Khan's brutal killing?

Mardan police have so far arrested 53 suspects for involvement in Mashal Khan murder case, including the key suspect, Imran, who is suspected of having shot the student.

Police, however, are yet to arrest Arif Khan, a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) councillor, who was seen warning a crowd not to name Mashal Khan's murderer after the student's lynching.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...