Varsity to remain closed for three days as body of another student found

Students clash at Hazara University

MANSEHRA: The Hazara University (HU) was closed for three more days after the body of another student was found in a field in the Baffa area, officials said Thursday.

The body of Tayyab, stated to be a cousin of Chand, or Chanzeb as local sources identified him, who allegedly shot and killed Suleman, a student of Hazara University from Swat on Wednesday night, was found in the fields in Baffa and was taken to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital in Mansehra city for autopsy.

According to police, Tayyab had been accompanying Chand, a former student of Hazara University belonging to Mansehra, when he brawled with Suleman at a snooker club located outside the university and fled together from the scene after shooting at the latter.

“Our preliminary investigation revealed that Chand also shot dead his cousin Tayyab to get registered a cross first information report (FIR) against the Suleman group,” said Ahsan Saifullah, the district police officer.

He said the police had arrested over 130 students for taking the law into their own hands following the shootout at the snooker club and for blocking the Karakoram Highway.“We will release all those whose parents would give surety in writing that their children would not create law and order situation in future,” he said.

“We have lodged an FIR against almost 30 students who torched properties and vehicles and attacked the police,” he added.There were reports that Tayyab had argued with his cousin Chanzeb and reprimanded him for killing Suleman, a young student from Swat’s Charbagh area and student of Political Science department at the university, for no valid reason. This angered Chanzeb and he shot dead Tayyab. 

A heavy contingent of police was deployed in and around the Hazara University to cope with any untoward situation as angry students blocked the busy Karakoram Highway for many hours on Wednesday night. The blockage made the people suffer as the road links Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan and Gilgit-Baltistan with Abbottabad, Islamabad and rest of the country. A convoy heading to China was also stranded due to the blockage.

Sajjad Ahmad, the spokesperson for the Hazara University, told reporters that the university which was closed for only one day would now reopen on Monday.“We have lost two students in a brawl outside the university. The university will remain closed for another three days to mourn their death,” he added.

He said the university had recently offered admission to over 2,000 students and didn’t want to disturb their education, but the decision was the need of the hour.The students who protested Suleman’s killing and demanded justice complained that they were brutally tortured by the police and suffered injuries.