PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have asked the provincial government to take up the issue of transferring Mashal Khan murder case to a trial court in Peshawar with the Peshawar High Court chief justice.

Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, additional inspector general of police (investigation), has written a letter to the provincial secretary for home and tribal affairs department, asking him to also take up the issue of hiring a reputed private counsel for Mashal`s family on the state expenses.

Mashal Khan, a journalism department student of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, was lynched by a mob on the campus on April 13. A joint investigation team in its report recently concluded that they found no evidence of blasphemy against Mashal and blamed the university officials, student s and some outsiders for killing him. The KP police letter, a copy available with this scribe, notes that Iqbal Khan, father of the slain student, has recently demanded appointment of a private counsel and shifting of the case to a trial court in Peshawar from Mardan.

The letter stated that the Supreme Court had also taken suo motu notice of the Mashal murder case.

It said that the police had completed investigation of the case and a complete charge-sheet had been submitted to the trial court.

It said that Mr Khan`s demand of hiring private counsel was permissible under the law and he might be provided with a private prosecutor/prosecuting team.

It said that the Swabi and Mardan police had been asked to remain cognizant of Iqbal Khan and his family`s security. `Keeping in view ramifications of the case, it is proposed that the issue of transfer of the case to trial court in Peshawar may also be taken up with the Peshawar High Court`s chief justice, if deemed appropriate,` it said. -Bureau Report