Student claims seeing ‘suspicious person’ clamber school wall

Security guards of Umer Hayat Shaheed School in Charsadda say they opened aerial fire after student's claims

SHABQADAR:

Security guards of Umer Hayat Shaheed School in Charsadda started aerial firing when a student screamed near the boundary wall of the school, saying he saw “someone suspicious” on Tuesday. The student, Shahab of grade nine, said he saw someone leave, climbing over the school wall.

Shahab told the media he was near the boundary wall because he saw someone fleeing school from there.



The firing caused panic in the area as the school is situated in a marketplace. Locals rushed to the school to enquire about their children. Police reached the site and carried out a search operation in the area, but no one was found. Nevertheless, the student insisted he saw someone suspicious. The school administration and police believed the student could be attempting to sneak out of the school, but fabricated the scenario when he thought he was caught and would have to face some punishment.

Following action

Raza Muhammad, a sub-divisional police officer in Charsadda, issued an order to the school to ensure safety. The officer said the school administration must provide an automatic weapon to the security guard at the main gate and not allow anyone into the premises without proper identification and body search with a metal detector.

The order read the security guard must be well-trained, keep a check on the boundary walls and be on duty for 24 hours. It added the school staff, security guards and the police should be reachable to each other via phone and there should be an emergency siren in the school. It was also said that the school should have a fire extinguisher and CCTV camera.

However, the school administration rejected that a single person could work for 24 hours. It was demanded that extra posts be created for the guards and funds be increased for the construction of taller boundary walls.

Terror bid foiled

A 10-kilogramme explosive placed in a drum in Shno Ghundai in Shabqadar was defused.

Upon finding the explosive device, police informed the bomb disposal unit who defused the bomb. Police official Gul Shed Khan told the media the device was meant to target security forces or police personnel patrolling the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th,  2016.