FAISALABAD, Jan 12: Hundreds of students took out a rally and blocked traffic by staging a sit-in in front of the University of Agriculture in protest against the expulsion of 18 students from the campus here on Wednesday.

Students of the Agricultural University, Punjab Medical College, and city's other educational institutions gathered outside the PMC campus from where they marched through city roads.

They chanted slogans against the vice-chancellor. They were also carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the Agricultural University management. They demanded immediate removal of the VC as, according to them, he was playing in the hands of a group of teachers and harassing them for personal gains.

The protesting students were stopped at the main gate of the University by a heavy police contingent and armed guards of the Agriversity. The University administration also locked the hostels and classrooms and did not allow the students to come out from their rooms. The entire campus was encircled by armed police commandos to avoid any untoward incident.

The police and the Agriversity administration trapped the students and detained five protesters - IJT Nazim Syed Sajjad Haider Gilani, Rana Aziz, Amjad Hussain, Adnan Khan and Ijaz Hussain in the Kotwali police station. They were taken from the procession on the pretext of arranging talks with the VC.

After receiving information, the students became infuriated and gathered outside the police station, shouted slogans against the university management and police and blocked traffic on Narwala and Kotwali roads. After hours long detention, the police released the detained students to control the situation.

FUND RAISING: Local trades took out a rally to express sympathy with the tsunami victims and to generate funds for them here on Wednesday. The rally was organized by the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) in collaboration with a private television channel.