MULTAN, Jan 18: At least eleven students were injured in a clash between two factions of a student organisation in a Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) hostel here on Tuesday.

Activists of rival groups of the People's Students Federation (PSF) used arms and batons against each other during the fight. All the injured were shifted to Nishtar Hospital where one was stated to be in a critical condition.

The scuffle began after two female students of the law department and the computer science department were tortured allegedly by the activists of Rana Shafiq group of the PSF.

Both the girls submitted applications to the university administration for disciplinary action against the accused for torturing them.

PSF's Imran Dogar group expressed its support for the girls and demanded the administration take strict action against those who had tortured the girls.

“Our group had protested against the torture of female students on Monday but the administration was backing the accused students and was reluctant to take any action against them,” Imran Dogar said.

“When my group pressed the administration for taking an action against the accused on the application of the girls, the administration asked the activists of Rana Shafiq to strike a 'deal' with us,” Dogar added.

He alleged that activists of Rana group attacked his friends residing in Abubakar Hall on Tuesday.

He alleged the activists of Rana Shafiq group shot at and injured six members of his group, namely Rizwan, Waheed, Tauqeer, Umer Pervez, Hasan and Zeeshan besides beating them up with clubs.

He said the administration was responsible for the incident as it did not take any action against the accused students.

On the other hand, Rana Shafiq said his friends were sitting in Abubakar Hall when two sons of PML-N leader Tariq Naeemullah, Ahad Tariq and Maroof Tariq, along with their friends Ali Shah, A.D. Mangana and Imran Dogar attacked them.

He said Tariq Naeemullah had been eager to launch a students' wing of the PML in the university for the last six to seven months.

He said there was no reality in the allegations of torture of two female students.

He said Rana Javed, Gul Sher, Asif and Yaqoob of his group were injured because of firing and Baqir, Sheikh Ibrahim and Shehr Yar were injured after they were beaten up with clubs by their rivals.

BZU resident officer Dr Altaf Dasti said a disciplinary committee was probing the allegations levelled by female students and statements of some witnesses were also recorded on Tuesday. The committee was going to decide the matter by Wednesday (today), he added.

“However, the issue of torture of two female students has no concern with Tuesday's incident as both groups are fighting to get hold of student politics in the university.”

He said five people were injured in the clash.

Nishtar Hospital deputy medical superintendent Dr Sarfaraz Hasan Sial described as stable the condition of all the injured except Tauqeer Hayat.