Killer of principal remanded in three-day police custody

CHARSADDA: The judicial magistrate on Tuesday remanded Syed Faheem Shah, the student who had killed his principal on Monday after accusing him of blasphemy, in three-day police custody.

The accused was produced before the, judicial magistrate Attaullah Khan amid tight security. Also, people continued to visit the residence of the slain principal Sareer Ahmed of the New Islamia Public High School and College in Shabqadar to offer condolences to the bereaved family.

Faheem Shah had shot and killed Sareer Ahmad after accusing him of blasphemy. District Police Officer Zahoor Afridi said that the police did not find any evidence that suggested that the victim had committed blasphemy.

Owner of the college Hidayat Khan said that the slain principal was a religious person and was affiliated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). He pointed out that the late Sareer Ahmad was a member of Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nabuwwat and it was unbelievable that he would commit blasphemy. He recalled that Sareer Ahmad always attended religious events and was a firm believer and a true Muslim. Abbas Khan, a student, said that he and his friends were shifting Sareer Ahmad to a hospital in Peshawar when he succumbed to his injuries. "I was with him when he died," he said, adding, that Sareer Ahmad recited Kalma-e-Shahadat three times before breathing his last.

The accused student during the course of investigation told the police that Sareer Ahmad snubbed him for skipping classes to participate in the protest sit-in of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan at Faizabad. "He told me that you have made skipping the classes for minor things a habit. This offended me," he told the investigators.

Sources said that the accused student had set up a fake Facebook ID in the name of a girl and used it to chat with fellow students. The sources said he also used to send messages to students on cellphone. They said that later it was revealed that Faheem Shah was running the fake Facebook account. When the principal came to know about it he snubbed him.