Arrest of JU students sparks violence

Students of Jahangirnagar University went on the rampage Saturday night following the arrests of three university students on 'mugging' charges.
They set up roadblocks on Dhaka-Aricha Highway for five hours from 9:00pm Saturday and damaged over 50 vehicles in protest of the arrests.
The proctor of the university, Sayed Kamrul Ahsan, resigned early yesterday as he failed to get the students released from Rab custody.
Campus sources said plainclothes Rab picked up the three students from Dairy Farm Gate of the university suspecting their involvement in a mugging incident in the area at about 8:30pm Saturday.
Violence sparked off as the news spread across the campus. Several hundred students took to the streets and put barricades on Dhaka-Aricha Highway.
They removed the barricades at about 2:00am yesterday after the university authorities assured them of securing the arrested students' release. The proctor later resigned as he failed to free them despite repeated attempts.
Chase and counter-chase between students and police ensued yesterday morning as the students tried to put roadblocks on the busy highway for the second time.
Nearly 1,000 police have been deployed in and around the campus to avert further violence.
A tense situation was prevailing in the university as the students were demonstrating on the campus demanding the immediate release of the detained students.