Land Grabbing: Students block road to protest attack

Agitated students of Phulbari Government College in Dinajpur blocked the Dinajpur-Gobindaganj road yesterday, protesting attack on fellow students and their teacher allegedly by men of a female councillor of Phulbari Municipality the same morning.

The angry students blocked the road from 11:00am, disrupting the traffic movement for an hour.

 The attack left at least nine students and a teacher of the college injured.

Of them, Ershad Hossain, teacher of Philosophy Department at the college, and students Monsur Parvez, Sagar Hossain, Sabbir Hossain, Nasim Ahmed, Mehdi Hasan, Sabbir Hossain and Shuvo, took treatment at Phulbari Upazila Health Complex.

Injured teacher Ershad said after hearing the news that some hired goons of Rokeya Begum, a councillor of Phulbari Municipality, were erecting a structure, grabbing a portion of the college land, he rushed to the college compound yesterday morning.

Seeing the ongoing construction work, when he and some students of the institution protested it Rokeya's followers attacked them with bamboo and sticks that left at least 10 people injured, the teacher said.

Meanwhile, protesting the attack, students of the institution gathered at Bottola Intersection and blocked the road for an hour.

They withdrew the blockade after Officer in Charge of Phulbari Police Station Fakrul Islam assured them of taking legal action against the offenders.

When contacted, Rokeya denied to make any comment in this regard.