ISLAMABAD – The Federal Investigation Agency claimed on Wednesday that it did not have proof of a PTI councillor, the prime accused in the Mashal Khan lynching case, fleeing the country secretly.
The response came after social media went frenetic with reports that Arif Mardanvi had escaped to Thailand with the backing of a PTI lawmaker.
Sources in the FIA said that they did not have any record of Arif leaving the country adding that a passport issued on Arif’s identity card number 16101-72784**-* had expired in 2016.
The source said that no new passport had been issued to the identity card number but feared that the accused might have gone abroad illegally.
On Thursday, the KP police also wrote a letter to FIA seeking the inclusion of Arif’s name in Exit Control List.
It is relevant to mention that Mashal Khan, a student of Mass Communication department of Abdul Wali Khan was lynched to death after allegations that he committed blasphemy.
The incident created an uproar across the country subsequently leading to multiple arrests. However, the prime accused appears to be still at large though the law enforcers are in a bid to apprehend him as well.
