Students of Barishal University have blocked the Barishal-Patuakhali road in protest after following a late-night attack on a dormitory which left at least 13 people injured.
The attack came after a Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation or BRTC staffer was arrested on charges of ‘harassing’ a Barishal University student.
The injured students have been admitted to Barishal Sher-e -Bangla Medical College Hospital.
“We are trying to normalise the situation and have increased the police presence there. We have assured the students that the perpetrators will be brought to book following an investigation,” said Anwar Hossain, chief of Barishal Metropolitan Port Police Station.
On Tuesday afternoon, a BU student named ‘Sojol’ went to Rupatali Bus Stand to buy a ticket for Jashore. He subsequently had an altercation with the staff at the BRTC counter before being harassed at one point, according to the disgruntled students.
The students responded to the incident by blocking the roads at Rupatali but the tension subsided when the police arrested BRTC worker ‘Rafiq’, said Inspector Md Asaduzzaman of Kotwali Model Police Station.
Later, a group of transport workers led by Kowsar Hossain Shipon, general secretary of Barishal-Patuakhali Minibus Owners Association, allegedly carried out an attack on the dormitory at Rupatali Housing at around 2 am, some of the injured students said.
The students immediately rallied in protest, lighting a fire in front of the university at night. They resumed the protests by blocking the roads in the morning, bringing traffic in the area to a halt.
But minibus owners’ association leader Kowsar denied any knowledge of the attack. “I’m unaware of the incident and I wasn’t involved in it,” he said.
The university’s vice-chancellor will hold a meeting with the students and the bus owners association in a bid to resolve the issue on Wednesday, said Prof Arif Hossain, president of the Barishal University teachers’ association.
(Source: bdnews24)
