Dangerous driving: Violent protest follows college student’s death

Cars damaged, shops on the road forced to close down.

FAISALABAD:

Scores of Government Islamia College students broke windows of vehicles parked in front of the college and forced nearby shops to close down on Monday after a first-year student was run over by a bus while he was crossing the road in front of the college.

Several police teams had to be called on the spot to stop the students. Several students and policemen were injured in the clash that followed.

The protest and occasional violence continued for over three hours before police informed the students that the bus driver had been arrested. None of the students was arrested.

Civil Lines police said Ali Raza was run over by a bus on Sargodha Road in front of his college. He died on the spot and the driver fled the scene.

Over 200 students, police said, had taken to the street carrying iron rods, bricks and stones.



They forced all shops on the road to close down and vandalised a number of vehicles parked in front of the college and those driving by. Some of the protesting students also burned tyres. Traffic was suspended and had to be diverted to other roads.

The police team sent initially tried to stop the students but failed.  The students then marched towards the General Bus Stand near the college to attack the buses. They demanded that the bus driver be arrested. They said there had been several incidents of students being injured or killed by speeding vehicles in front of the college, but none of the drivers had been arrested.

The city police officer was informed about the students’ march on the bus stand and ordered the Sargodha Road, Nishatabad and Civil Lines police teams to stop them.

The students were baton-charged and they responded by throwing stones at the police teams. Several students and policemen were injured and received first aid on the spot. The protesters dispersed after they were informed that the driver had been arrested and that if they stopped none of them would be arrested.

A police spokesman told The Express Tribune that the students had been stopped before they could damage buses at the bus stand. He said City Police Officer Haidar Ashraf had directed the police to arrest the driver immediately.

The spokesman said an investigation had begun. He said witnesses’ accounts suggested that the deceased student had slipped while trying to board a moving bus and was run over.

He said a case had been registered against the driver with Civil Lines police.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2013.