23. It was at this stage that the Hon'ble Mr. Hassan Ali passed by that way in his car on his way to the Assembly together with Maulana Abdullah-al-Baqui, M.L.A.. M.C.A.-President of the Provincial Muslim League, who was travelling with him in the same car. The car was stopped by the crowd and put out of action by having the tyres deflated. Two young men got into the car, one by the left door, the other by right door. They wihsed the Hon'ble Minister and his companion to go with them into the Medical College Hospital and pressed them hard. His companion got out of the car in order to do so, but the Hon'ble Minister and his orderly pulled him back into the car as he considered it highly unsafe for him to go as so many brickbats were flying about the place. The Police put the Hon'ble Minister and his companion into a Police car and drove them off to the Assembly House but the Hon'ble Minister was injured on his head by a brick as the jeep drove away. But this time the Police had sustained a considerable number of casualties and the D.I.G., the District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police and the Additional Superintendent of Police, City, had all been injured with brickbats. Other members of the Police force had also sustained injuries but they were carrying on in spite of that handicap.
24. It was about this period from 3 p.m. onwards that the Police found the situation was slipping beyond their control. A second and last determined lathi charge was made by the Police at 3 p.m. on the mob on the road. This time, however, the lathi charge did not have the desired effect and the Police found that instead of the mob falling back they themselves had to fall back as they could not face the heavy showers of brickbats rained upon them. According to estimates of the District Magistrate and Police Officials, the mob at this time consisted of over 5,000 men. It was closing in on the Police force from two sides-from the University playground corner and from the Medical College Hostel. in a menacing fashion and finding that the Police party was in danger of being encircled and overpowered, the District Magistrate, the D.I.G. and the S.P. agreed that the situation was so desperate that it was necessary to open fire. As a last resort, a final warning was given but as this had no effect, under the direction of the District Magistrate and under the direct orders of the Superintendent of Police, the Police party fired on the rioters. The firing party consisted of 3 head constables and 30 constables who formed a square on the road between the Medical College gate and the Medical College Hostel gate. Five men on each flank faced the University ground and the Medical College Hostel in a kneeling position. The rest remained facing the north-west. The D.I.G's recollection of the exact formation does not agree with that of the S.P.-but as the S.P. was in actual command his recollection is more likely to be accurate. Other members of the Police party and the S.P. himself took up their position inside the square. The S.P. ordered the two flanks to fire one round each and they did so. The mob on the University playground side fell back but the mob on the Medical College Hostel side halted momentarily and again advanced throwing brickbats. And then the S.P. ordered the flank facing the Medical College Hostel to open fire a second time. As soon as the mob on this side began to fall back the Superintendent of Police ordered the “cease fire". After the firing the ammunition was checked and it was found that 27 rounds in all had been fired. Five towards the rioters on the University playground side and 22 rounds towards the ioters on the Medical College Hostel side. At the time of the firing one man dropped dead near the corner of the
