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Murder of three students at medical college
Karachi, Sept 29: The murder of three medical students in August has been linked to
the operation of unauthorized PCOs within the premises of the Jinnah
Postgraduate Medical Centre, hospital officials and investigators said on
Monday. The deaths resulted from a series of scuffles which initially erupted on
an argument over rates charged at a public call office (PCO) within JPMC
premises. This led to the death of students, some of whom were deliberately
targeted by activists of rival political groups.
Officials alleged that
some of the PCOs were owned and run by certain activist students. It was their
operation and scuffles over their operation that ultimately led to the murder of
three medical students and injuries to several others on August 15 and 25
respectively.
"Though there could be many reasons behind the murders, we
believe that bone of contention was the thriving business of phone booths and
issues associated with this," one of the top officials of the city's biggest
hospital said.
He said one student organisation was allegedly
running phone booths for some years, even before the ready availability of
mobile phones. It was at one of these booths that a scuffle broke out between
the activists of the supposedly rival student groups.
As a first step,
the JPMC administration has removed around 11-12 PCOs, which they claimed were
being run illegally for the past several years. The JPMC administration took
this step following the student clashes.
Another senior official claimed
that there were reports that certain student activists used to take protection
money from unauthorized businesses on the premises of the hospital.
The
official said that removal of encroachments was a step at breaking this
monopoly. Earlier, the administration had vacated the old hostel of what it
called 'undesirable elements' that were residing there for many
years.
The official said that certain persons had also encroached on land
of the JPMC and the administration had decided to pursue the same before
judicial forums.
Qamar Zaman, then SIO (Station Investigation Officer) of
Saddar Town confirmed that a scuffle had erupted at the PCO inside the JPMC over
charges of phone use, in which sticks were used, leading to the death of one
young man. He claimed that it was a minor issue which led to the tragic death of
three students one after the other.
One medical student was killed on
August 15 inside the premises of the JPMC, triggering widespread violence. All
out-patient departments and the emergency ward remained closed for several days
as an uneasy calm prevailed at the hospital. When the situation was returning to
normalcy, another bloody clash took place at the hospital premises that led to
the death of another student and injuries to several others; one of them later
succumbed to his injuries.
It also enhanced the sense of insecurity and
anxiety among the doctors and other hospital staff.
Consequently, both
the Dow Medical College and Sindh Medical College were also closed for several
days. The boys' hostels were vacated from students and 'outsiders', causing
inconvenience to genuine students, especially foreigners.
Subsequently,
extra-ordinary security arrangements were made to provide security to the
doctors and other staff, who were reluctant to rejoin their duties.
Since
then, an APC (armoured personnel carrier) of Rangers had been deployed at the
JPMC and Rangers also remain alert at the main gate of the newly-built emergency
and accident ward of the JPMC to meet any eventuality. However, the death
earlier this week of a senior doctor (box) has once again raised fears about the
safety of staff and patients at the JPMC. The News
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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