Student shoots dead college principal in Charsadda

CHARSADDA: A student in Charsadda shot dead his principal on Monday after the college administration marked him absent for missing classes to attend a protest by the Tehreek-e-Labaik religious group in Islamabad.

Faheem Ashraf – a second-year student at New Islamia Public College Shabqadar – opened fire at college principal Sareer Ahmed after the two argued over the student's absence from college to attend the Faizabad sit-in in the federal capital in November, police said. 

Ahmed was critically injured after Ashraf shot him on the college campus. The injured principal later succumbed to his wounds at a hospital in Peshawar, police added. 

The protest, which brought Islamabad to a standstill, ended in violent clashes between police and demonstrators that injured over 200. It also led the government to back down and accept the resignation of federal law minister.

Eyewitnesses said Ashraf was chanting slogans when FC personnel arrested him and seized his weapon from the crime scene.

The accused was later handed over to the police, who started an investigation into the killing.

The district police officer (DPO) told Geo News that investigators were trying to ascertain if the accused had hurled blasphemy allegations against the principal as an excuse for the killing.

Citizens of the tehsil, students, and teachers spilled out onto the roads to protest against the murder.

According to students and colleagues of the deceased, Sareer Ahmed was a practicing Muslim, a Hafiz-e-Quran, and held a Masters degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Peshawar. 

He leaves behind a wife, three daughters, and a son to mourn his death.