BCL men clash for toll, 5 hurt

Five people, including a policeman, were injured in a clash between two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) over sharing toll money at Rajshahi University early yesterday.
Police and witnesses said the clash erupted around 12:00 midnight between the followers of RU unit BCL president Awal Kabir Joy and general secretary Majedul Islam Apu when the later's men attacked their rivals at room No 103 of Madar Bux Hall.
Both the factions were settling the matter of collected toll money of Tk 3,000 at the room of the dormitory, sources said.
A policeman was also injured during the attack while trying to tackle the situation in the room, said witnesses. At one stage, Apu's men drove out the followers of Joy from the hall.
Around 1:00 am, equipped with hockey sticks, iron rods and hammers, both the groups took position at the hall. Later, a chase and counter chase between the two groups took place for half an hour.
The students ran helter-skelter and came out of the dormitory during the clash while policemen who were on duty remained silent spectators, witnesses said.
Around 1:30 am, Joy and Apu went to the scene and brought the situation under control.
Sources said Apu's men took a toll of Tk 3,000 from a resident of the hall. Later, Joy's group demanded the computer of the resident as their rival group declined to share the toll money.
Earlier on Monday afternoon, Joy's men beat up canteen manager of the hall Shah Alam as he declined to disclose the names of their rival group who use to take free meals.
Both Apu and Joy refuted the allegation of extortion. Apu said Joy's men beat up Tofazzal that led to the clash while Joy said the clash occurred due to a misunderstanding.
Both the leaders claimed that they settled the matter with an intervention of the city unit BCL leaders.
The hall provost Belayet Hossain told reporters that he informed the matter to the university administration for taking action.
Additional police have been deployed on the campus to avert further clash, said RU Proctor Chowdhury Muhammad Zakaria.
The injured are Delwar Hossain, Monirul Islam and Nasir Hossain who belong to Joy group and Tofazzal Hossain of Apu group.
Nasir was admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital while others were given treatment at RU Medical Centre.