LAHORE, April 20 A student was killed in a road accident close to the Defence H-Block market in the early hours of Monday.

Waheeb Alam, a third-year BSc student at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), was on his way to a pharmacy along with his friends, Sohaib Tariq and Majid, in a car at around 430am when, according to friends of the students who arrived at the scene later, a speeding Prado coming from the opposite direction careered over the road partition and rolled on top of the car, crushing the vehicle underneath.

Waheeb Alam died instantly while Majid sustained head injuries and was admitted to Lahore General Hospital where his condition was stated to be out of danger, while Sohaib sustained minor injuries.

Waheeb was a boarder at the university and a resident of Mian Chunoo, where his body was taken for funeral in the afternoon.

According to friends, he was well-liked, a good student, and took an interest in body-building. According to a friend, he had gained admission through the university's National Outreach Programme which targets students living in rural areas. He was due to graduate in 2010.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sarfraz Virk told Dawn a first information report had been registered against Prado driver Asad Sultan, resident of Cantonment, under Section 322 (accidental death) on the complaint of Sohaib Tariq.

An inmate of the Prado named as Danish, the son of a local business owner and a resident of Defence, was also confined in police custody. A third passenger of the Prado, Bilal Sheikh, was not apprehended.

A student, who was present at the police station when the FIR was being processed, said Asad Sultan and Danish both smelt heavily of alcohol.

ASP Virk said a medico-legal examiner had conducted tests and the police would await the examiner's results before deciding whether to process charges for consumption of alcohol.

PROTEST Some few hundred LUMS students blocked the main Defence Road near the spot of the accident at around 9am and stayed there for over three hours.

Maham, one of the protesters, explained that students were angered at what they viewed as a delayed response from the police, delay in filing the FIR, and alleged police tampering of evidence from the scene, including materials collected from the car. LUMS Vice-Chancellor Dr Ahmad J Durrani also arrived at the protest spot.

ASP Virk denied that the police had “hidden” any evidence and said the FIR was processed as soon as possible. “The FIR was issued around 1030am, about an hour after we had finished collecting statements,” he said.