GUJRAT: At least 36 students, nominated in the murder case of a security guard at the Gurali boys campus of the Punjab Group of Colleges (PGC), were released on Tuesday from jail after a court accepted their bail pleas as they were pardoned by the heirs of the deceased.

Gujrat Additional District and Session Judge (AD&SJ) Javed Akram Baitu accepted the bail application of all the 36 nominated suspects in the murder case of security guard Azhar Hussain of Gonal Sharif village, ordering their release.

The heirs of the deceased guard, including his widow and sons, had earlier recorded their statements in the court about pardoning the suspects.

The judge ordered the suspects to submit surety bonds worth Rs100,000 each before their release. An earlier bail application of the suspects had been rejected by a court around a couple of weeks ago.

Azhar Hussain was killed during a violent attack by the protesting students in Gurali Campus of the PGC on October 16 the last against an alleged rape incident at a branch of the private colleges’ chain in Lahore.

Following the guard’s killing, Gujrat Saddar police had lodged a murder case against the students involved in the attack, on the complaint of Zawahar Abbas, a son of the deceased, arresting the 36 suspects.

Gujrat district police had lodged at least 10 cases against some 1,100 protesters in connection with the violent protests at different PGC branches in Gujrat, Jalalpur Jattan, Kunjah, Lalamusa and Kharian.

During the students’ agitation, many PGC campuses were ransacked and burnt, causing a loss of property up to Rs100 million, as estimated by the group’s management.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024