PESHAWAR: A student of Agricultural University, Peshawar received critical head injury when some of his fellow students exchanged fire here on Tuesday morning, police said.

The administration immediately ordered closure of the university till further orders. Altaf, a 4th year student of BSc, who was not part of the quarrel, was rushed to Hayatabad Medical Complex. Doctors at Surgical ICU of the hospital described his condition as critical. “He is on ventilator due to damage of brain. The bullet has caused blood clots in his brain,” hospital sources said.

According to police, some students of the university exchanged hot words on the campus over some issue on Monday but timely intervention of the administration salvaged the situation.

On Tuesday, the students again took up the fight on the campus and resorted to firing. Altaf, a resident of Tehkal area in Peshawar district, who was not part of the scuffle, received a bullet in the throat.

Campus police arrested three students, nominated in FIR by the Agricultural University’s administration. The arrested students were identified as Gohar Ali, Nauman Khan and Waqar Khan.

After the firing incident, police vacated all six hostels of the university immediately and carried out an operation. The students of the university were asked by the police to leave their hostels immediately after the incident.

The students had to leave for their far off towns and villages after they were dislodged from the hostels. They alleged that the failure of university administration to control political activities on the campus had become an obstacle to academic activities.

The students said that they stayed in the hostels at the expense of their parents to get education.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014