Four SU students acquire bail

Jamshoro police have booked 17 of the varsity's students in an FIR on charges of treason

HYDERABAD: Four students of Sindh University, who are among the 17 students booked in a treason FIR by Jamshoro district police, obtained bail from the local court on Wednesday. The students were booked under Sections 120-A, 120-B, 123-A, 124 and 153 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of inspector Abdul Qadir Panhwar, who is in charge of campus security.

As many as 13 students were nominated with names besides four unidentified students. The complainant claimed that the accused indulged in raising anti-Pakistan slogans during a recent protest at the main entrance of Sindh University and that they also carried out wall chalking of similar slogans.

Police register ‘sedition’ case against protesting Sindh University students

The students, on their part, claim that they have been booked for a protest they organised on October 31 over the water scarcity issue in hostels. SU Registrar Ameer Ali Abro told the local media that the varsity's Vice Chancellor Prof Fateh Muhammad Burfat has distanced himself from the FIR and conveyed the same to Jamshoro SSP Amjad Shaikh.

"We are investigating the case. If any student is innocent, they will get justice," said Shaikh while talking to the media. The SSP claimed that the nominated students participated in the activities of banned nationalist outfits.

The students who secured bail from the Jamshoro district and session court include Halal Yaseen, Ameer Ali Shah, Ansar Abro and Danish. Several student unions have given a call for a protest demonstration in Hyderabad against the police crackdown on November 22.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2019.