HARIPUR: The anti-terrorism court completed recording statements of all the 57 arrested accused in Mashal Khan lynching case here on Thursday.

The court had started recording the statements of 57 accused in Central Jail Haripur on Tuesday which was completed on Thursday in the presence of counsels from both the prosecution and defence sides.

Earlier, 39 accused had recorded their statements during last two days before the ATC judge while 18 others were produced before the court on Thursday.

However, all the accused, including two principal accused identified as Imran and Ashfaq, declined to accept the charges levelled against them in the FIR registered after the murder of Mashal Khan, a student of Journalism Department of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan.

The court adjourned the proceedings till Saturday when the prosecution would start its arguments.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018