LAHORE: The Gulberg police arrested 17 students of various posh private schools, allegedly over aerial firing during a “car rally” they took out on the Main Boulevard “with an intent to terrorise” people.

According to police sources, the action was taken following surfacing of a video clip on social media, showing schoolboys driving six luxury cars on the Gulberg’s main artery, while one of them was armed with a ‘9mm pistol’.

They said the boys, mostly studying in elite schools in Gulberg and Model Town, had recently formed a group for holding ‘celebrations’ on the city roads.

The police inquiries suggested that some of the boys were earlier part of ‘Gang 102’, a notorious group of schoolboys, and joined the new group arrested from the Main Boulevard of Gulberg.

The sources said the schoolboys, inspired by social media content and ‘Gang 102’, indulged in the unlawful activity to create terror.

“We have arrested 17 students and five drivers who were holding a car rally on the busy artery and lodged a First Information Report against them,” Gulberg Circle ASP Sheharbano Naqvi told Dawn.

She said the trend among the students of various private schools of forming groups and using weapons on the main city roads was alarming.

The ASP said in this regard the role of the administrations of the private schools was important and they should discourage the underage students who indulged in such activities in their school uniform.

Secondly, she said, the parents must also be aware of the activities of their children after they leave their homes for school, adding that the police recovered a 9mm pistol from one of the arrested boys, terming it a dangerous trend.

“Driving by underage schoolchildren was another violation of law”, the ASP said.

The boys blocked the main road, created nuisance and fear, she said, adding that the police called their parents, informed them about the crime their children committed and advised them to focus on the orientation of their children.

“It is an eyeopener for all that the threshold of the maturity is declining, as the children who are recognised as adults at the age of 18 under most laws, are now acting like grownups in their early teenage,” she said, adding that the trend was unhealthy and should be discouraged both by parents as well as teachers.

To a question, the ASP said, the six luxury cars the boys were driving, had also been seized, adding that police were also trying to contact the owners of the private schools where they studied to ask them to review their rules and policies to prevent such incidents in future.

Sources say the police had recently busted ‘Gang 102’, a group of students of various private schools of the city that was involved in violence and other criminal activities.

The police also arrested the ringleader of the gang from Karachi, where he had gone underground to avoid arrest, besides nabbing its other members from various parts of the city, they added.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2023