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Mob `roughs up` BZU academic, Mepco team

By Our Staff Correspondent 2014-12-11
MULTAN: A mob allegedly manhandled a professor of the Bahauddin Zakariya University at Wasti Shorkot on Wednesday over a dispute of shifting the university feeder.

A team of the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) came to Wasti Shorkot for installation of electricity wires but a number of people gathered there to stop the workers from installing wires while claiming that they had a stay order.

The Mepco team informed the university administration and a team led by Prof Ishaq Fani, Aftab Sahu, Engineer Malik Rafique and Assistant Professor Ahsan IqbalQureshireached there for `negotiation`.

An eyewitness told Dawn the university team called the Alpa police who reached there but informed the callersthattheareadidnotfallin their jurisdiction. He said another call was made to the Bahauddin Zakariya police and a team came there only tocontest the jurisdiction issue.

He said the academics called the New Multan police and the people gathered there showed a stay order to them. The varsity officials, said the eyewitness, kept threatening the people and misbehaved with them as a result of which the locals manhandled Dr Fani.

He said both parties later agreed that the Mepco staff would first shift the two electricity poles in the area and then complete wiring for the university feeder.

Dr Fani said the university had paid about Rs30 million to Mepco to shift the feeder. He said the stay order was not valid as it was issued on July 1, 2013.

`A stay order remains valid for six months and more than one year has passed in this case. Besides, it is mentioned that no installation should be made on the other side of the street,` he argued.

He denied some people beat him up and said the mob in fact roughed up the Mepco staff. He said the wiring installation job would be done on Thursday (today).