HYDERABAD, April 27: Seven activists of the Jeay Sindh Students' Federation and one of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were injured during a clash in the Tandojam area on Tuesday. Three of them suffered bullet injuries in the clash.

Police registered a case against 16 persons on the complaint of Habibullah Bhutto of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and arrested Shahzad alias Joji and Nasir. Tension gripped Civil Hospital Hyderabad as the injured were brought there, while the Market police beefed up forces to prevent any trouble.

An MQM activist, Shahzad Rajput alias Joji, who was the only injured from their side, was taken aside to the hospital mortuary and then shifted to an undisclosed place.

Three activists who suffered bullet injuries were Abdul Rehman Veesar, Mohammad Aslam Makrani and Shabbir Ali Lashari. The last two were operated upon while the others were discharged or admitted to the surgical ward. The other injured included Arshad, Karim Bux Magsi, Siraj Siyal and Ahmed Ali Nizamani.

It was not immediately clear which party started the firing. Shahid Ali Lashari told this correspondent that the clash took place after they were attacked. He said that a group of persons used to chase a bus of the Tandojam Agricultural University that picked up girl students from the Agriculture Colony. He said that the JSSF activists objected to this behaviour and it led to tension.

However, Shahzad alias Joji, said that he was an activist of MQM Unit No 2, at Tandojam, and he scuffled with JSQM activists Habibullah Bhutto, Shabbir Lashari, Mushtaq Soomro, Muni, Zakir Shah, Israr Tunio and Irfan Maga after some of them had beaten up his nephew, Nasir Rajput, outside the examination centre three or four days ago.

He said that today he was coming to Hyderabad railway station when he was severely beaten up by the above-mentioned JSQM activists. The MQM zonal chief denied that his party activists were involved in the clash, saying that the six nominated accused did not belong to the Muttahida.

JSQM chief Bashir Qureshi said that of 16 accused, Shahzad alias Joji, Faheem Commando, Junaid, Naveed, Sher Ali, Tasleem Eedo and Shahid were MQM activists. He told the MQM leadership that if the accused did not belong to the party, they should be arrested, and if they belonged to the MQM, they should be expelled from the party. He said that his party did not want any ethnic clash.