Campus violence: SHO killed, six injured in a student brawl

Student wings of PPP and PML-F were involved, says student affairs director.

HYDERABAD: A clash between two student groups at Quaid-e-Awam University, Benazirabad, on Friday left a police officer dead. At least six students were also injured.

Nawabshah SHO Abdul Rahim Khaskheli was hit in the head with a rod while trying to disperse the miscreants. He succumbed to his injuries at the Peoples Medical Centre Hospital. Police constable Mir Nawaz Jamali, who was on duty with the slain SHO, said that they were near the police van when Khaskheli was attacked. “They attacked the SHO from behind. We could not see their faces,” he explained.

The injured students included Ayaz Shar, Arif Pathan, Abdul Ghaffar, Anwar, Sadam Jakhrani and Zia Arain. All of them were injured when they were hit by sticks, rods and bricks. Jakhrani and Arain were later arrested from the hospital.

The fight took place allegedly between the student wings of Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, according to the director of student affairs, Manzoor Panhwar. He said that a dispute between the workers of Sindh Peoples Student Federation (SPSF) and Muslim Students Federation (MSF) had been going on for a long time and it escalated on Friday, when the two fired shots in the air near the central library.

Later, a large number of policemen surrounded the university and carried out a search operation and arrested at least 14 students. Benazirabad SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro confirmed, however, only six arrests. Panhwar also said that the university will rusticate the students who were involved in the violence. The Benazirabad leaders of SPSF and MSF could not be reached for comments. The police have yet to register an FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.