Monday | 13 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Monday | 13 January 2025 | Epaper

Over 50 college students injured in clashes in Jatrabari

Police sues 8,000 students over vandalism, stealing ammo from law enforcers

Published : Tuesday, 26 November, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 297
Staff Correspondent
Over 50 students were injured in the hours-long clashes between students of Govt Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Govt College and Dr Mahbubur Rahman Molla College at Jatrabari in the capital on Monday.

In contrast, a statement issued by Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Deputy Commissioner of Media and Public Relations Muhammad Talebur Rahman said some 25 people were injured, and refuted claims on social media that two people had died in the clash. The DMP requested all to refrain from spreading this sort of misinformation.

On the other hand, Managing Director of Molla College Ashraf Sameer told media that thousands of students attacked students and teachers of the college when classes were going on. 

He claimed more than 100 teachers and students were injured in the attack and were receiving treatment at various hospitals nearby.

Earlier around midday on Monday, several hundred students from Govt Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul Govt College launched an attack on the students of Dr Mahbubur Rahman Molla College.

They vandalised the college building and looted valuables from the institution.

This was followed by repeated rounds of chase and counter chase between the two sides, triggering a clash.

After Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul College students left the spot around 1:20pm, members of army and police went to the scene at about 2:00pm.

Six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed to the Jatrabari area to prevent further escalations.

The attack came a day after several thousand students from more than a dozen colleges, including Molla College, attacked Kabi Nazrul and Suhrawardy College in Old Dhaka.

On Monday, the students of Kabi Nazrul and Suhrawardy College gathered at their respective campuses with sticks and iron rods in their hands and marched towards Molla College for a retaliatory attack.

During the clash, students beat up rivals and hurled brick chunks at each other.

Addressing the issue, Education Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud assured on Monday that the interim government is prepared to address students' reasonable demands while warning that unjustified demands will not be entertained.

Speaking at a post-ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) meeting briefing at the NEC auditorium, Dr Wahiduddin urged students to communicate their concerns constructively.

"Just demands will be met and there will be no need to remain on the streets," he stated.

The meeting, chaired by Chief Adviser Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus, focused on addressing ongoing student unrest and other pressing issues.
  
"We are committed to addressing just demands fairly, but resolving these issues requires collective efforts," he noted.

"Blocking roads, rail lines, or attacking passengers creates indiscipline and erodes public support for the protesters. Already, the public is beginning to resist such actions," he remarked.  

Earlier on November 18, Molla College student Avijit died in Dhaka National Medical College Hospital, due to alleged negligence. Following Avijit's death, students demonstrated against the hospital authorities in the hospital premises.

As the protests were ongoing, some students from Suhrawardy and Kabi Nazrul colleges attacked the demonstrators from Molla College on November 21.

Following the attack, several thousand students, including from Molla College, Dhaka College, City College and Notre Dame College, yesterday gathered in front of the hospital again, protesting the death of Avijit and the subsequent attack on Molla College students.

The gathering stretched to Kabi Nazrul College. At one stage, the protesting students tried to break into the college but failed to do so.

The protesters then attacked Suhrawardy College after a small group of students of the college tried to chase the demonstrators away from outside Kabi Nazrul College around 1:00pm.

At that time, the protesters vandalised three motorcycles, a car, a microbus, and an ambulance parked on the Suhrwarady College campus.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka University (DU) authorities postponed the fourth-year honours examinations of the seven colleges which were scheduled to be held on Tuesday, citing "unavoidable reasons."

The notification also stated that a new exam schedule will be announced "shortly" and the timetable for other examinations will remain unchanged.

The fourth-year honours exams of the seven colleges began last week.

Both Suhrawardy and Nazrul colleges are among the seven colleges affiliated to DU.

In the meantime, the police on Sunday filed a case against 8,000 students of various colleges including Dr Mahbubur Rahman Molla College (DMRC) in the capital on charges of vandalism and theft of bullet loaded magazines. 

Sutrapur Police Station Sub-Inspector AKM Hasan Mahmudul Kabir filed the case as the plaintiff.

The case report was submitted to the court on Monday. 

According to the case statement, on November 24, about 7,000 to 8,000 students from various institutions, including the DMRC, formed an unlawful assembly and engaged in violent activities armed with deadly weapons. 

They are accused of damaging government property, including a police armoured personnel carrier (APC) and a police motorcycle and stealing magazines loaded with bullets from official firearms.

The statement also alleges that the students attacked on-duty police personnel, issued threats and spread terror in the area. 

The estimated financial damage caused by the vandalism was reported to be Tk 270,000.



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