The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has questioned three officers of the University of Balochistan in connection with a case involving alleged harassment and blackmail of students on campus, officials said Monday.
The case had come to light about a month ago when the Baluchistan High Court (BHC) ordered the FIA to investigate reports of students harassed on the university team.
The FIA, which has been investigating the case for several weeks, discovered that male and female students were being harassed through "objectionable" videos of them. These videos were recorded using at least six cameras that were secretly installed in various locations on the university's Quetta campus, in addition to the existing official CCTV cameras.
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"We have tracked 12 videos of harassment of students," said a senior FIA official who declined to be identified. DawnNewsTV. He added that the majority of the victims in the case are students who were harassed by some university administration officials.
Official sources said the videos were personal in nature and involved the mix of female and male students. The clips, recorded with cameras covertly installed in places like restrooms and smoking areas on campus, were used to sexually harass and blackmail students.
Liaquat Shahwani, spokesman for the Baluchistan government, confirmed that the FIA was investigating the case by order of BHC.
"None [responsible] it will be saved, "he said, adding that the culprits will be brought to justice.
Commenting on the incident, Dr. Javed Iqbal, Vice Chancellor of the University of Baluchistan, said Dr. Javed Iqbal DawnNewsTV: "If any officer or employee is found guilty, we will give an example of them."
His comment came after a university spokesman issued a statement denying reports that the FIA had arrested any university team official.
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He also denied reports that the FIA had questioned the vice-rector's official regarding the case or that objectionable videos had been recovered.
According to the statement, the vice chancellor had promised "full cooperation" to the FIA regarding the issue.
The FIA conducted a series of raids and launched a formal investigation into the scandal following a notification taken by the higher court. BHC President Jamal Khan Mandokhail had ordered the agency to submit a report on the alleged harassment of students before October 28.
So far, the FIA has questioned almost 200 officials of the University of Balochistan.
"We have not formally arrested the officers, we only investigate them," said the FIA officer DawnNewsTV, and added that formal arrests would be made after the registration of a first informative report.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1510832/fia-interrogates-3-officials-over-involvement-in-harassment-scandal-at-balochistan-university