QUETTA: A committee set up by the Balochistan Assembly speaker to investigate the blackmailing and harassment scandal of university students — both male and female — will start its proceedings on Friday (today).

According to a notification issued by the provincial assembly secretariat on Thurs­day, in the first meeting members would elect chairman of the committee besides deciding their future course of action.

Provincial ministers Saleem Ahmed Khosa and Mir Asadullah Baloch, advisers to the chief minister Dhanesh Kumar, Malik Naeem Bazai, Syed Ehsan Shah and Ms Mah Jabeen Shiran and opposition lawmakers Sanaullah Baloch, Syed Fazal Agha, Ms Shakeela Naveed Dhewar and Nasrullah Zerey are members of the committee.

The law secretary will also attend the meeting, said the notification.

The committee has been asked to submit its report within 10 days. The Federal Investi­gation Agency (FIA) is also investigating the scandal.

FIA officials said that they would submit their report to the Balochistan High Court by Oct 29. They said the statements of some suspected officials of the Balochistan University had been recorded, but no arrest had made so far.

Further action would be taken after completing the inquiry, the said.

The FIA officials, however, refused to disclose findings of the investigation before submission of the report to the high court.

Balochistan University’s Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Iqbal said that he had nothing to say at the moment as the FIA was still probing the scandal. “I have no information about the alleged scandal,” he said, adding that the action would be taken after submission of the FIA report to the high court.

He assured that if any university official was found involved in the FIA report, he would get an exemplary punishment.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019