Student organisations 'clash' at Punjab University

LAHORE: In the latest episode of violence at an educational institution, a clash took place between two student organisations at the University of Punjab, the Lahore police said Wednesday, resulting in the closure of the varsity.

During the scuffle, the groups also resorted to aerial firing and stone pelting in one of the country's biggest universities, the police said, while the number of students injured in the clash could not be ascertained.

The police added that at least 47 students involved in the firing on university premises, including one identified as Haseeb, have been arrested.

The law enforcers had rushed to the educational institute after Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Additional IG Bilal Siddique Kamyana took notice. 

The incident comes just days after the country’s top-ranked Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) was shut down this week for an indefinite period following a clash between two student groups.

Dr Raja Qaiser Ahmed, the registrar of the varsity, said that the clash between two groups took place Monday and after that, students were directed to vacate the university's hostels.

In a statement released today, Islamabad police said that the hostels of the QAU have been evacuated completely through the "cooperation of the university administration".

"We will not allow politics to take over the universities," the capital's police quoted Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah as saying in response to the unfortunate incident.

A case has also been lodged against suspects involved in the clash, police added.