15 hurt in cop action on medical test protesters

At least 15 people were injured as police charged baton on medical admission seekers at Kawranbazar in the city while they were demonstrating demanding the retake of MBBS and BDS admission tests cancelling the previous ones. As per their schedule, the protesters were marching towards Mohakhali to lay a siege to the Heath Directorate around 2 pm and police intercepted them at Kawranbazar. Witnesses said police charged baton, used pepper spray and assaulted women protesters to disperse them. A chase and counter-chase took place in the area prompting the police to detain 15 people from the spot who were set free after a while. The admission seekers gathered at Central Shaheed Minar around 12 pm and took position at Shahbagh around 12:30 pm, disrupting traffic on the streets around the area. Students of Dhaka Medical College, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and various private medical colleges joined the protest programme. Meanwhile, Khaled Saifullah, spokesperson of the medical admission seekers, said, “Police charged baton on us suddenly and went on pepper spray to disperse us.” Besides, he announced to stage a mass sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar around 11 am on Thursday protesting the incident. He made the announcement at a press briefing organised in protest against the police action on the Central Shaheed Minar premises in the afternoon. “We’ve enough documents to prove the question paper leakage,” Saifullah said urging the IT department concerned of the Health Directorate to scrutinise the documents. Besides, Pragatishil Chhatra Jote, a left-leaning student front and Samrajjyabad Birodhi Chhatra Jote also joined the programme. Expressing solidarity with the medical test protesters, Pragatishil Chhatra Jote and Samrajjyobad Birodhi Chhatra Jote announced to stage a demonstration programme in front of ‘Aparajeyo Bangla’ around 11 am on October 12. The medical admission seekers have been on a movement September 18 demanding the cancellation of the admission tests and taking fresh tests since alleging question paper leak. — Dhaka, Oct 7 (UNB)