BCL men 'abduct' CU shuttle train driver

A driver of a Chittagong University (CU) shuttle train was released yesterday afternoon, nearly four hours after his abduction allegedly by the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).

The abduction took place at a time when the BCL men had been allegedly demonstrating to realise their eight-point demand since Wednesday.

The demands include eliminating session jam, increasing compartments in the shuttle train and suspending BNP-Jamaat activists from the university.

Following the abduction, the train service remained halted since 10:40am, causing immense sufferings to students.

BCL men abducted Md Kawser, loco master of the shuttle train, from Sholoshahar Railway Station in the morning, alleged local station master Md Shahabuddin. The abductors released him around 2:30pm at Muradpur, he added.

Contacted, Fazle Rabby Sujan, former general secretary of CU unit BCL, claimed that general students were demonstrating to realise some logical demands. “Some of them might have abducted the loco master in this regard,” he said.

He also claimed that the BCL men were not involved with the demonstration but they expressed solidarity with the demands.

However, on Wednesday, a faction of BCL men under the banner of “Muktijudder Chetonay Biswasi Pragatishil Shikkharthibrindo” submitted a memorandum to the CU authorities with the demands. They also gave a 48-hour ultimatum in this regard.