RU files case over clash between students and locals, 1 arrested

Rajshahi University authorities have filed a case over the incident of clash between the students and locals. RU’s registrar Abdus Salam filed the case with Motihar police station on Sunday afternoon.

A total of 400-500 unidentified persons of Binodpur area have been made accused in the case. Police arrested a resident of Khojapur area of the city named Taslim Ali alias Peter, 45, over the incident. Police said Peter, a transport worker, was the first person to hit the students.

University’s assistant proctor Arifur Rahman submitted the case statement to the police station in the afternoon.

Md Hafizur Rahman, officer in charge of Motihar police station, confirmed the arrest of Peter over the case.

According to the case statement, a student of sociology department’s 2017-18 session named Al Amin Akash was returning to the campus from Bogura on a bus of ‘Mohammad Paribahan' on Saturday afternoon. He locked into an altercation with the supervisor of  the bus over sitting on the bus. As the student informed his friends over the matter, they took position in Binodpur Bazar. As the bus had reached Binodpur Bazar, students and transport workers again locked into the altercation.  At one point, Binodpur Bazar’s shopkeeper and bus counter’s chain master Peter attacked Al Amin and his friends leading to a full scale clash.

The case statement added that assistant proctors rushed to the scene to quell the situation but the locals suddenly attacked the students with local weapons and started to hurl brick bats.

A total of 86 students including Bangla department’s Rakib,22, marketing department’s Arif,22 and Sabbir, 23 were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, the case statement added.

RMCH’s word master Mosharraf Hossain told Prothom Alo that 90 students were admitted till the afternoon. Many others left the hospital after primary treatment.

Rakibul, a fourth year student of physics department, was on life support from the last night.

Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal, in charge of Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said Rakibul’s life support was removed this afternoon as his condition improved. He is now talking.

Six injured students underwent eye surgery. One of the students named Mahfuzur Rahman was critically injured.

Physicians hoped the injured students would recover quickly.

The clash that ensued over a trifling matter continued for hours. Several shops of Binodpur Bazar area and a police box were set afire during the clash.

Seven platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the night to bring the situation under control.