MARDAN: Sabir Mayar, one of the primary accused in the Mashal Khan lynching case, has reportedly told police he was not present when the incident took place last year. Mashal was brutally beaten and shot dead at the Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan over false allegations of blasphemy in April 2017. On Monday, Mayar, one of the two remaining absconders in the case, handed himself over to police. According to sources, Mayar told the police he was not present when Mashal was murdered. He explained that he had remained in hiding out of fear after being named an accused in the case. Moreover, police produced Mayar before an anti-terrorism court on Tuesday, which approved his four-day physical remand. Mayar, president of the Pakhtun Student Federation, is said to be the one who hatched the plan for Mashal’s murder at Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan. However, following Mashal’s murder, him and two others, had run away. Mohammad Arif Khan, a tehsil councillor from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and one of the three absconders, was arrested earlier this month. The punishment for the rest of the 57 accused who were arrested was announced by an anti-terrorism court in Haripur on February 7. According to the verdict, one person was awarded death sentence, five life imprisonment, 25 were jailed for four years each, while 26 were acquitted over lack of evidence. The 26 suspects released by the court had received a ‘hero’s welcome’ in their native towns of Swabi and Mardan after their release. Later, Mashal’s family challenged their acquittal as did the provincial government. On February 27, the Peshawar High Court ordered on bail the release of the 25 accused, who had been awarded three to four-year sentences in the case. Published in Daily Times, March 21st 2018.