A Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader has been injured critically after a group of miscreants covering their faces with masks and helmets chopped him at his room at Sher-E-Bangla hall of Barisal University.
Two other students, who were in the room of BCL leader Mohiuddin Ahmed alias Sifat at that time, were also beaten up.
BCL is the student wing of ruling Awami-League (AL).
They all were admitted to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.
Of them, the condition of Sifat is critical as he was chopped and beaten up mercilessly with iron rods. The incident took place on Tuesday between 4:30am and 5:00am at Room No 4016 of the dormitory -- an attack that spread panic among the students.
There is no BCL committee in Barishal University. However, Sifat, known as the follower of Barishal city mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, has been leading a BCL group for a long time.
Barishal police station officer-in-charge Md Asaduzzaman said they inspected the hall following the attack.
Efforts are underway to identify the attackers, scrutinising the video footage captured in CCTV. Additional police forces have been deployed in the campus to evade further tension, he added.
Several students of the dormitory told Prothom Alo that they learned after talking to Mohiuddin that 15-20 miscreants carried out the attack. They all wore masks and helmets to hide identity. They left the scene after 15 to 20 minutes. It is suspected that they used a pocket gate to enter the hall.
The residential student of Sher-E-Bangla hall, Syed Rumman, told Prothom Alo a group of miscreants knocked the door of Mohiuddin's room early on Tuesday. As soon as he opened the door, they started beating him up mercilessly with iron rods. At a stage, he tried to run away, but to no avail.
The miscreants chased him down at hall veranda and chopped in his legs and hands, leaving him critically injured. Two other students who were in his room were also beaten. But their conditions are not as critical as Mohiuddin, Rumman added.
The student said the condition of his two legs and hands is critical. Besides, they chopped six to seven parts of his body with sharp weapons. Though the attackers wore helmets and masks to cover their faces, Mohiuddin was able to identify some of them.
University proctor, Md Kurshed Alam, told Prothom Alo that they are closely observing the issue. The process of forming an investigative body to probe the incident is underway. The authorities are providing all-out support to the police so as to identify the attackers.