Bogra medical college shut

Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College (SZMC) in Bogra has been closed for an indefinite period following a clash between two factions of pro-ruling party Chhatra League reportedly over control of a dorm canteen.

Students were asked to vacate their dormitories by 4:00pm yesterday.

Principal AKM Ahsan Habib told The Daily Star an emergency meeting of the college's academic council took the decision earlier in the day to avoid further untoward incident. “Decision regarding examinations will be taken later,” he said.

Witnesses said the clash broke out around 10:00pm Tuesday after some activists of two SZMC Chhatra League factions got involved in an altercation inside the canteen of the hostel for male students.

Later, they attacked each other with sticks, said the witnesses, adding that there had been a longstanding dispute between the two groups over control of the canteen.

The factions are led by SZMC BCL president Ali Ahad and former secretary of the unit Atiqur Rahman.

Three rooms of the hostel were vandalised during the clash.

On information, members of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) Police Outpost went to the spot but did not find any of the activists there, said Sub-Inspector Shah Alam of the outpost.

Seven students were injured in the clash and they received treatment at SZMCH, said sources at the hospital.

The Daily Star could not reach anyone from the two BCL factions for comments.

However, Naimur Razzak Titas, president of Bogra BCL, said the clash broke out due to a “misunderstanding” and they were trying to resolve the issue.

Arifur Rahman Mondal, additional superintendent of Bogra police (East), said adequate police members had been deployed on the campus. 

Meanwhile, many students, while leaving their dormitories, feared that their academic activities would be greatly hampered if the situation did not become normal quickly.