Identified as Shamsuddin, Molvi Javed, Aoul Khan, Manshi, Channazer, and Taous, the accused has been charged with the murders of Shah Faisal, 37, Sher Wali, 35, and Rafiuddin, 32, all of whom are older brothers of Afzal Kohistani.
The accused allegedly shot down the three brothers in District Palas’ Gadaar Village earlier this month.
The police had earlier arrested six persons including Sabeer Khan, Molvi Noor-ul-Haq, Molvi Javed, Mosam Khan and Jengir Khan.
A controversial jirga, chaired by Mansehra-based Molvi Javed, last May condemned five women from the same tribe and two brothers from another tribe on the basis of a video shot at a wedding ceremony.
Four women were caught in the video singing and clapping while two boys Gul Nazar and Bin Yasir were dancing.
Muhammad Afzal Kohistani, whose brothers were also involved in the video, had claimed that tribal jirga ordered the execution of all seven persons and later the five women were slaughtered and clandestinely buried.
Nazar and Yasir, who initially managed to scamper, were arrested and sent to jail for filming the video and uploading it to the internet without permission. However, they were later released by a local court on bail.
Upon the revelation of story, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice and sent a fact finding commission to the area that reported that the all the women were alive and the case was abruptly disposed of.
Kohistani, however, alleged that the authorities of jirga presented the girls who had resemblance with the killed women, to the commission which duped them into believing that the women weren’t killed.
After the silence of six months, the case took a new turn on January 3, when Kohistani’s brothers were killed during an attack by a dozen armed men from the Azadkhel tribe.
It is pertinent to mention that Kohistani has filed an application in the Supreme Court to re-open the case.