PESHAWAR, April 4: Eight students charged with killing a fellow student of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) were arrested here on Monday after their pre-arrest bail petition was dismissed by the high court, whereas a key suspect in the case managed to escape from the courtroom.

The bench heard two petitions -- One filed by the prosecution against granting bail to Nauman Khattak by the subordinate court and the other one filed by the eight students seeking pre-arrest bail.

The court accepted the petition filed by the prosecution and cancelled the bail granted to Nauman Khattak, and also dismissed the pre-arrest bail petition of the other eight accused.

The deceased, Adnan Abdul Qadir, a final year student in civil technology of the UET hailing from the southern Bannu district, had died at a local hospital on March 19, 2010, after receiving serious injuries in a clash with Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) activists on March 12. The motive for the murder was stated to be playing loud music in the hostel by the deceased.

The complainant in the case was Ibrahim Khan, a fellow student who had accused nine members of the IJT. Those who were charged by the complainant included: Nauman Khattak, Sibghatullah, Muqeemuddin, Umer Farooq, Mohammad Ibrahim, Zahid Khattak, Aziz-ur-Rehman, Fahad Zulfiqar and Muhammad Ashfaq.

The state counsel argued that the accused were directly charged for the offence. He contended that eight of the suspects remained absconders for many months and they were not entitled to concession of bail.

The accused, Nauman, was arrested a few days after the incident whereas the rest of eight avoided arrest. Last year they filed a pre-arrest bail petition before the anti-terrorism court in Peshawar, but the same was dismissed on Dec 7. However, as the eight petitioners were not present in the courtroom, they could not be arrested and they moved the high court for getting pre-arrest bail.

The death of the student had sparked violent demonstrations in the university following which all the educational institutions on the Peshawar University campus reamined closed for a few weeks.