City life goes haywire

People in New Market area came out on Mirpur Road after the gun fires stopped for a while yesterday afternoon. They ran for shelter again when shooting restarted.Photo: Anisur Rahman

Life in the city ground to a halt as the news of bloodshed at BDR headquarters spread like wildfire, throwing people in a state of panic yesterday morning.
Rumble of gunfire and rumours flying thick and fast left the locals in Dhanmondi area numb with shock. Those living nearby watched in horror as army personnel ringed the compound and their choppers hovered overhead. As the day wore on, many families opted to flee their homes.
With the private TV channels beaming yet-to-be-confirmed news of civilian casualties, the entire capital was overcome by panic.
SSC examinees, students and office-goers were the worst sufferers. Pedestrians and those massed to see how things pan out ran for cover as bullets fired by rebel BDR jawans found way out of the HQ at regular intervals.
Most of the shopping malls in the area were locked and shuttered down and the roads leading to the Rifles HQ off-limits to traffic.
Those sitting SSC examinations in schools at Azimpur, Nilkhet, Science Laboratory crossing, Jhigatala, Hazaribagh and other places in Dhanmondi had tremendous difficulty showing up at the halls in time.
After the exam, many entrants told The Daily Star they could not do well as it was very difficult to concentrate amid gunshots ringing out in the area.
Students of kindergartens and junior schools were stuck in their classrooms for hours as guardians of many could not go there to pick their kids because of unsafe road conditions and transport crisis.
“My school closed at 9:40am. But I could not yet contact my parents. I don't know how I'm going to make it home,” said a student of Viqarunnisa Noon School at Azimpur, pacing to and fro on the road around 10:30am.
Like her, hundreds of students in Government Laboratory School, Eden College, Home Economics College, Dhaka College, Dhaka City College, Dhaka State College Jhigatala, Viqarunnisa Noon School, and Kakali High School were clueless about how to reach home.
Besides, several hundred female students of Kuwait-Moitree Hall and Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall of Dhaka University passed most of the day cowering in the corner of their rooms as bullets kept hitting the dormitory walls.
At least two--Kamrul Nahar, a student of DU Bangla department, and an employee of Kuwait-Moitree--were bullet-hit.
“We heard the first gunshot at around quarter past nine. We took shelter in the TV room on the ground floor following instructions of hall authorities,” Snigdha Boul, a student from Kuwait-Maitree, told The Daily Star over phone.
In the evening, the DU authorities had all students of the two dormitories shifted to Shamsunnahar Hall and Rokeya Hall.
Rumours including the one of placing the capital under curfew prompted a mad dash out of offices and business centres.