Karachi: Police shell protesting Islamia College students

KARACHI: Police fired tear gas and baton-charged students who allegedly pelted rocks at the police that had reached the Islamia College to execute an order of the apex court pertaining to it on Saturday, ARY News reported.

Station House Officer (SHO) Jamshed Quarters police Naveed Soomro said that the college is built on private property, and the owners approached the Supreme Court (SC) to vacate it.

He added that the SC gave an order in favour of the owner directing the Sindh High Court (SHC) to end its “occupation”. Soomro said the SHC directed the City Courts to ensure the implementation of the apex court order and hand it over to the SHC nazir.

The SHO said the police party arrived at the college along with the court’s bailiff and senior police and education department officials. The bailiff was talking with the college’s principal when some students allegedly pelted the police with stones, he added.

Soomro added that the police resorted to “mild” tear gas shelling the students and baton-charged them to disperse them.

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The officer said that after dispersing the students, East Senior Superintendent of Police Syed Abdul Rahim Shirazi, the education department’s secretary for colleges Aleem Lashari and other officials arrived at the spot and engaged the college administration in negotiations to evacuate the premises.