The students of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore received a big shock at the resumption of their classes after the almost three-month break when three of their university fellows were expelled for a semester while two others were fined for raising voice against on-campus examinations, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.

Muhammad Junaid, Muhammad Farrukh and Muhammad Haroon were expelled for one semester on charges of inciting other students against on-campus exams.

Zunair Haider was fined Rs20,000 for giving a call for a protest on his twitter account while Daud Ahmad was fined Rs5,000 for responding to Haider’s call.

Some ‘unidentified elements’ had clashed with security guards of the University of Central Punjab (UCP) in Lahore some six days ago on January 26 during the students' protest against the government’s decision to conduct on-campus, and not online, exams, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The students blocked the service road in front of the university and vowed to continue the protest till their demand was met. The protesters demanded from the university administration to take online exams.

Police also reached the protest site and negotiated with the protestors.

According to a private TV channel, the protest turned violent when “irrelevant elements” attempted to vandalize the front gate of the university at the time when university guards went inside amid the presence of a large number of protesting students. The intruders threw stones inside the university.

Similar protests were reported from other universities across the country.