LAHORE – A student from Punjab University law college was abducted from his hostel room and thrashed despite presence of guards, after he tweeted in favour of missing activist Salman Haider, here on Tuesday .
The student, identified as Sohail, was abducted by around 15 people from his hostel at a time when the guards were on duty.
The victim said that around 15 people dragged him outside, put a blanket over him and continued thrashing him for some time before taking him to the hostel’s courtyard. The victim suspected that the attackers belonged to a student organisation.
Sohail claimed that he was targeted as he tweeted in support of the Islamabad-based missing Salman Haider and also shared a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz to express solidarity with him.
The student also felt angered as he was crying for help but no security guard deployed to protect students came forward to rescue him. He was released near Mustafa Town after three hours.
According to unconfirmed reports, some members of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, were allegedly behind the incident.
However, IJT spokesperson Amjad Bukhari claimed the issue erupted due to personal disputes between the students of University Law College and Punjab University.
‘The IJT has nothing to do with it,’ he claimed.
PU Chairman Hall Council Dr Abid Hussain said the suspects did not take the victim to any room but beat him up in the open.
‘After the incident, the vice-chancellor had also visited the hostel’ he added.
It is relevant to mention that Salman Haider, an Islamabad-based activist and professor went missing on January 7. A text message sent from Salman Haider’s phone to his wife said the car should be taken from Koral Chowk.
