At least 150 violent protesters were arrested in Rawalpindi as police used tear gas to disperse students demonstrating against the alleged rape of a Lahore student.

Last week, reports related to the alleged rape of the private college student went viral on social media, prompting the police to arrest a security guard at the college who was allegedly involved in the incident.

Enraged by the alleged incident, students mobilised on social media and staged protests outside different colleges in Lahore in the past few days. On Monday, at least 28 were injured due to clashes with the security guards of the college and police.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has declared that the alleged rape was “fabricated news”, blaming the PTI for spreading the “fake reports” on social media. Punjab Group of Colleges (PGC) group Director Agha Tahir and other office-holders have termed the incident “baseless”.