Sources said the leaders of ruling BNP's student wing have been carrying on the shady business in collusion with some teachers, officials and employees of the college since the BNP-Jamaat alliance government came to power.

Students who are on the waiting list or failed to qualify for admissions are usually their clients. Some of the qualified freshers also buy the illicit service to avail seats in the dormitories.

On the night of March 7, JCD leaders captured about 15 rooms in different dormitories kicking out 20 student occupants of those rooms to sell the seats to some freshers in exchange for a handsome amount of money.

Several hundred students began demonstrating on March 8 demanding reinstatement of the evicted students to their respective rooms.

But the principal, Prof Feroza Begum, took a stand in favour of the JCD leaders terming the demonstrating students 'street girls'.

And now after JCD's attack on the demonstrating students who were blockading the street in front of the college all through Monday night to press home their six-point demand, the principal said some students of the college were engaged in 'dating their boyfriends all through the night on the street'.

A student said incidents of kicking out residential students from their rooms occur frequently but a movement takes place only when a large scale forced eviction happens.

Earlier when Prof Dilara Hafiz, former principal of the college, along with some other teachers took stand against the misdeeds of JCD leaders, they had to quit the college due to pressure from the government high-ups.

The students and some JCD activists said most of the Eden College JCD leaders earned a huge amount of money in the last four years in collusion with the college administration and their party leaders.

The students' demands include punishment for the JCD leaders involved in the illegal business on campus.

A reliable JCD source said almost all the rooms in a newly constructed dormitory scheduled to open soon are already captured by the JCD leaders as they had taken advance payments from the freshers to book seats for them.

JCD cadres were guarding the dormitories and the campus yesterday although the authorities had officially vacated the dormitories. They also beat a student who came to take an exam for her Masters course.

Sources said the cadres were staying at Razia Sultana Hall till filling of this report at 8:00pm yesterday.

JCD'S VERSION
Afrin Jahan Sima, who claimed to be a joint convenor of the Eden College unit of JCD, told The Daily Star that there are also factional feuds within JCD and her faction is no longer involved in the illicit business. She, however, said some of the leaders of the other faction might be involved in such practices.

Shafiul Bari Babu, general secretary of the central committee of JCD, said his organisation has no activity at Eden College. He termed the recent incidents on the campus as 'a prevailing problem between the administration and the students' and said, "The administration has to resolve it."

He said JCD expects that the college authorities will accept the general students' demands to bring back congenial atmosphere on the campus.

AUTHORITIES' VERSION
Regarding the students' demand for resignation of the college principal for her failure to take action against corrupt student leaders, Prof Feroza Begum, principal of the college, said, "I can't just resign based on a few students demand!"

When asked whether JCD cadres were still living in the dormitories even after the college authorities vacated them, she denied the allegation terming it false and baseless.

Talking to journalists the principal said an evil force is trying to destroy congenial atmosphere on the campus in a planned way.

Referring to Monday's overnight sit-in programme by the students, she said some students of the college were 'dating their boyfriends all through the night on the street'.

About Tuesday's incident, the principal said, "We will reopen the dormitories as soon as we can and will carry out an investigation to find out the persons responsible for the attack on students."

Earlier on March 9, the college authorities formed an eight-member inquiry committee to investigate the allegation that JCD leaders have been involved in illegal business of selling dormitory seats to students.

The authorities expelled a JCD leader from a dormitory but the students termed the expulsion as 'damage control'.