LAHORE, March 14: Three Punjab University students were beaten up allegedly by the Islami Jamiat Tulaba activists in full view of vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran on the New Campus on Friday.

Haroon Riaz, Amir Bilal and Muhammad Sajjal, who are all reading for doctorates in genetics, said they were distributing flyers to promote an independent judiciary outside the university mosque following Juma prayers when they were allegedly set upon and thrashed by around 40 to 50 Jamiat followers.

Although the IJT, which also supports the restoration of the Nov 3 judiciary, deny being involved, its president Nasrullah Goraya told Dawn: “movements are the responsibility of organisations and cannot be carried out by individuals.”

Haroon Riaz, narrating his version, said: “After the prayers we stood outside the mosque handing out flyers for the Black Flag week, when the Jamiat followers reacted violently and descended upon us.

“Around 10 security guards also grabbed the three of us from behind and started dragging us away while the Jamiat guys kicked and punched us. The whole ordeal lasted 20 minutes,” he said.

Riaz said the VC witnessed the event, as did the chairman of the Hall Council. Sajjal was taken to the Shaikh Zayed Hospital to be treated for his injuries, and the trio later went to lodge a case at the Muslim Town police station, but were told they must file a report through their VC first.

“When we got back to campus, we met the VC who said that as he had witnessed the event, he would deal with those involved after we filed a written application naming the culprits,” said Riaz. He added that a friend who had stood nearby had recorded footage of the incident on his mobile phone and that he and his friends would be reviewing the footage with other friends in order to identify those who beat them.

Nasrullah Goraya, meanwhile, denied that any IJT member was involved and said the university’s administration was behind the attacks in order to discredit the IJT. The accusation was termed “bogus and ridiculous” by university spokesman Dr Mujahid Mansoori, who added that the university would be investigating the matter justly and impartially.

VC Prof Kamran confirmed he had been at the scene of the incident and was awaiting a formal complaint by the students. He said: “The university will take a firm stand against those who try to take the law into their own hands.”