18 hurt, shops burnt as DU students, booksellers clash
At least 18 people including 16 students of Dhaka University were injured in a clash with shopkeepers in Nilkhet book market adjacent to the campus in the capital this afternoon.
More than eight bookshops were torched and eight others vandalised during the clash.
The clash ensued after some shopkeepers beat up Noor, a first year public administration student and a resident of Zahurul Haque Hall, following an altercation over price of a book at 'Sonia Medical Book Store' in the market around 5:25pm, witnesses said.
Hearing the news of beating, over 100 students of the dormitory rushed to the spot and set fire to eight makeshift bookshops set up on the footpaths outside the market around 6:00pm.
The students also vandalised eight more bookshops and a private car there.
Protesting the vandalism and torching, the bookshop owners and workers launched a collective attack on the students and hurled brick chips during the half-an-hour clash.
Police fired several rounds of teargas canisters to bring the situation under control around 6:00pm.
Yasin Arafat, officer-in-charge of New Market Police Station, said a policeman was also injured in the incident.
The injured were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and the university medical centre.
Abu Jafar Mia, secretary of Shahjalal Book Market Somobay Samity, a portion of the market, told The Daily Star that they rescued Nur and gave him Tk 1,000 for medical aid.
"We will try to settle the issue after discussing with the bookshop owners," Prof Amzad Ali, acting proctor of the university, told The Daily Star.
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