ISLAMABAD: A daily-wage employee of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) opened fire on Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Ali after a flag-hoisting ceremony held at the university on Independence Day on Sunday.

However, guards of the university instantly approached the armed man and lifted up his arm due to which all the four bullets hit the wall and roof of a building.

Later, the suspect was handed over to the police.

According to initial reports, the employee of Computer Science Department was upset as the daily-wage employees had not been paid salaries by the university for some months.

According to police sources, the flag-hoisting ceremony was held as per past practice in front of the library gate and culminated at around 10:15am. While the VC was going out along with 25 to 30 employees from the rear door of the library, the suspect followed him there.

“As he was carrying a pistol, the guards rushed towards him and lifted his arm. In the meanwhile the suspect fired four bullets that all hit the wall androof of the library and the VC remained unhurt. Later, the guards handed over the employee to the police,” they said.

The suspect, in his initial statement to the police, claimed that he and other daily-wage employees had not been paid salaries for many months. He said he took the step as it was not bearable for him to see the suffering of his family.

However, according to the police, the actual reason behind the incident would be revealed after a detailed investigation.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2022