KARACHI, March 1: Three Frontier Constabulary personnel were booked and arrested for allegedly killing a senior seminary student and wounding his fellow in a Quaidabad area on Thursday, police said.

They added that one of the soldiers had an altercation with students at the seminary over a petty issue before he opened fire on them in the presence of his subordinates.

The three FC men were part of the force that had been posted at different police stations following last year’s bloodshed in the city.

Quaidabad DSP Abdul Fatah Sangri said it all began when some construction material fell from an under-construction seminary near Hospital Chowrangi in Muslim Colony on Hawaldar Mohammad Khursheed, who was walking by, followed by an exchange of words between him and a senior student, Maulvi Mohammad Rehman. Other students of the seminary, affiliated with Madina Masjid, also joined in, police said.

The situation was initially controlled by area residents who asked both the sides to inform their seniors about the dispute and allow them to settle it, police said.

Hawaldar Khursheed then went to the Quaidabad police station and brought along his two subordinates, constables Liaquat Ali and Faraz Khan, to the seminary after some time, said DSP Sangri. He added that when the three men reached there, Hawaldar Khursheed was manhandled by some seminary students. Subsequently, the FC official who was holding an SMG lost his temper and opened fire on them, said the DSP.

At least two students sustained gunshot wounds.

They were rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where Maulvi Rehman, 25, was pronounced dead on arrival.

The other student, Zarf Ali, sustained a gunshot wound in the neck and was operated upon. Although he was shifted to an intensive care unit from the operating theatre after successful surgery, doctors said his condition was serious.

Meanwhile, police rushed to the seminary and took the three FC men to the Quaidabad police station.

The killing provoked street protests by seminary students. They shouted slogans against the law-enforcers and blocked traffic at the Hospital Chowrangi. The agitating students dispersed only after police assured them that an FIR would be registered against the FC men.

Later, Qari Fazal Kareem, a relative of the slain Maulvi Rehman, lodged an FIR (119/2012) with the Quaidabad police.

The case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder), 34 (with common intention) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The three FC personnel were formally arrested and the SMG seized by the police following the FIR registration.

When approached, Karachi District Officer of Frontier Constabulary Iqbal Dara refused to comment on the incident. He said that all FC men posted at police stations worked under the SSP of the respective district.

SSP (east) Khadim Rind could not be approached by the telephone despite attempts.