At least fifty protesting students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) were allegedly injured and assaulted by police personnel on Sunday evening on the campus.
A tensed situation was prevailing on the SUST campus till Sunday evening. Students claimed that a large number of police personnel chased and beat those students, who confined SUST Vice Chancellor Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed at ICT Bhaban demanding immediate removal of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury hall Provost Jafrin Ahmed.
Most of the protesters there received serious injuries as police personnel charged baton to disperse them, some of the protesters claimed.
However, the injured students were rushed to several hospitals and clinics after the incident, sources said. A female SUST student said, “The police personnel have beaten us indiscriminately. Besides, many female students were also dragged, harassed and humiliated in many ways by the police during the attack. It is a barbaric. We want justice. We are not thieves or thugs, we are students.”
However, some students, teachers and staff members of the university alleged that the agitating students also misbehaved with the Vice-Chancellor.
In the face of police action when the students started running, police stormed the ICT Bhaban and rescued the Vice Chancellor who was later taken to his official residence at the university, sources said.
Students of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury female dormitory have been protesting since Thursday to meet their three-point demand including the removal of the hall Provost Jafrin Ahmed.
As part of their programme, the female students of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury hall took position on the campus and started staging demonstration. Later, the students from other residential halls also joined them.
Boycotting classes and examinations, later the students announced they will continue their ongoing movement if their demands are not met immediately.
However, the students resumed their protest on Sunday seeing their demands remained unfulfilled.
Earlier, they also took position in front of the university vice-chancellor’s residence protesting and complaining of misbehavior by the hall provost.
Talking to reporters Azbahar Ali Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone), said, “The students started throwing stones targeting the police personnel there when they tried to rescue the confined Vice-Chancellor.”
“Later a chase and counter chase took place between students and police,” he added.
