KARACHI: The suspect accused of murdering Karachi University's dean of Islamic Studies, Professor Dr Shakeel Auj, was freed by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday for lack of evidence. 

The suspect, Mansoor, was freed after the court stated that the state prosecutor failed to provide sufficient evidence in the case.

Others accused of being involved in the murder are absconding. 

Auj was murdered in September 2014 and nearly four months later, the Karachi Police chief at the time, Ghulam Qadir Thebo, held a press conference on the January 28 and claimed the police had apprehended the murderer of two professors including Prof Shakeel Auj.

The alleged shooter, identified as Mohammad Mansoor, was said to be a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Shakeel Auj: one murder, two killers

On September 18, 2014 the Dean, Faculty of Islamic studies at the Karachi University was gunned down in Karachi near NIPA in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Nearly four months later, the Karachi Police Chief at...

On April 29th three months after the police had apprehended Mansoor, another assistant professor, Dr. Waheed-ur-Rehman was killed in the vicinity of Federal B Area.

Two days after the assistant professors murder, on May 2nd, the Al-Qaeda branch in the Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS) released a video claiming responsibility of killing Pakistani and Bangladeshi bloggers including Prof Shakeel Auj ? whose name was on the top of the list.

In the nine-minute video, AQIS?s Ameer Asim Umar threatened to execute more people who, according to his beliefs, were involved in committing blasphemy.

Shakeel Auj's murder, how he became a target

It started in September 2012 when an alleged letter by some KU students surfaced asking about the Fatwa on Prof. Shakeel Auj.

The alleged letter mentioned that ?He [Shakeel Auj] makes fun of Hadees and Quranic teachings and also negates them?.

The alleged fatwa mentioned in the letter was said to have been issued by  Dar-ul-Uloom Karachi. However, the seminary issued a clarification; that the fatwa mentioned in the letter was never issued by their institution adding that they never issued any such statement about Professor Shakeel Auj.

Auj was receiving threatening messages and approached the KU administration as well as the police for help. A case was registered and a professor was apprehended, only to be set free later by the courts.