Sylhet Bureau :
A major clash erupted in Sylhet city on Saturday afternoon (5 pm) between police and students protesting deaths in the recent quota reform movement, with the crowd supporting students growing steadily in the protest sites.
The Jindabazar-Chowhatta area of Sylhet city has turned into a battleground, Police fired tear-shells at the protesters; in response the protesters pelted brick chips at the police. Eyewitnesses said that the police threw tear shells at the protestors around 5pm. As a result, the situation became heated. Clash broke out between the two sides.
The eyewitness photojournalist said that the clash had spread to Jindabazar, Chowhatta and Ambarkhana.
Earlier on Saturday, the students protested by blocking the Chauhatta-Zindabahar road ignoring the rain. The presence of students increased with time.
As per the pre-announced program, the agitators started gathering in front of the central Shaheed Minar in the Chowhatta area of the city at 12 noon. The gathering gradually increased as students from various educational institutions joined.
Although it was announced to hold a “protest march”, the protestors sat on the road instead of the procession. As a result, the traffic on this busy road came to a halt.