Clash during student protest at Islamabad varsity leads to custody under military law

A security official is in custody and facing disciplinary action under military law following reports of a scuffle at Islamabad’s Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology (SUSIT), sources involved in the investigation said late Monday. The individual allegedly discharged a weapon during a scuffle with protestors at the university’s Chattha Bakhtawar campus, where students had been agitating against the dismissal of a senior official and other varsity-related issues. A video shared widely on social media of the incident shows a uniformed individual approaching a group of young men, who are reportedly SUSIT students. He is accompanied by a woman, who is said to be a university official. The video showed the suspect hitting an individual with a stick and exchanging heated words with gathered protestors, following which a scuffle breaks out. An angry crowd surrounds the officer, and some individuals appear to assault him, following which he draws a pistol and points it at the crowd. The woman accompanying him appears to try to stop him, but the man then points the weapon into the air and discharges it, at which several police officers approach and encircle him. In a later video, a senior Islamabad police official can be seen addressing the students. The individual was escorted out of the university by police, the police officer says, assuring that he will be dealt with strictly and swiftly under the army’s disciplinary procedures. “The Pakistan Army’s foremost priority is to maintain a strict system of discipline and ensure justice. Further action will be taken in light of the findings of the inquiry,” sources privy to the matter said. No official statement has been issued by the police, security forces or university yet.

Security official has been taken into custody and facing disciplinary action under military law, says a source