LAHORE, Dec 14: Some time a bit late proves to be too late. The colleagues of Special Ticket Examiner (STE) Rana Shabbir could not come on time to rescue him from four ‘students’ who fatally thrashed him at Lahore railway station on Saturday.

Shabbir, the 57-year-old heart patient, was semi-conscious when his colleagues reached platform No 8 along with railways police officials and took him to the railway police station where his condition deteriorated. Shabbir was received dead at Mayo Hospital’s emergency.

A passenger of Sargodha Express, Dildar Husain, told Dawn that four youngsters boarded the Lahore-bound train from Sheikhupura railway station. Two of them were caught by Shabbir near Chichoki Mallian railway station while travelling without ticket.

They refused to pay any fare and fine for being ‘students’ but Dildar and some other passengers intervened and the matter was apparently resolved.

“Shabbir had hardly disembarked from the train at platform No 8 when the four youths attacked him with fists and kicks,” said coolie Shahrukh.

The railway policemen and some colleagues could nab one ‘student’, identified as Khurram Shahzad, a resident of Nawankot area of Faisalabad Road, Sheikhupura, while Bilal, Adil and Khawar escaped.

All the accused are said to be ‘students’ of the Sheikhupura Commerce College.

Headed by railways police DSP Mehr Kausar, teams have been constituted to conduct raids and arrest the absconding accused.