KARACHI, May 16: Police lobbed tear gas shells and baton charged a group of protesting youths, who staged a sit-in on the railway tracks at the cantonment railway station forcing the Karakoram Express to leave a half an hour behind its scheduled time at 4pm.

Some youths belonging to Islami Jamiat Talaba, protesting against the death of a student, staged a sit-in on the tracks at around 4pm when Lahore-bound Karakoram Express, was about to leave. They sat in front of the train and blocked its way. They were chanting slogans demanding arrest of the killers of Farhan, a student of Government Jinnah Science College, North Nazimabad.

Police tried to push the youths from the tracks, which led to a scuffle between protesters and the police. After around 30 minutes, the police tossed teargas shells and baton charged the protesters to disperse them and clear the train tracks. During the scuffle, many youths suffered minor injuries. Police picked up some youths from the spot.

SSP Railway Nadir Khoso could not be approached despite repeated attempts.

However, Divisional Superintendent Railways Karachi, Junaid Qureshi told Dawn that some youths had blocked the way of the train by staging a sit-in at cantonment station. The police had to take an action and made possible the Karakoram Express to depart 30 minutes late. He said that a case had been registered against those who had blocked the railway tracks forcibly but he was unaware about the arrests.

The IJT claimed that two students, Farhan and Usman, were kidnapped and later found in SITE in unconscious state. They were admitted to a hospital where Farhan died. The IJT accused the students of All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization (APMSO) of kidnapping and beating up Farhan and Usman.