One killed in BCL factional clash
One killed in BCL factional clash
3 including proctor hit with rubber bullets; 17 others hurt; university closed
An activist was shot dead and 20 others were wounded in a fierce turf war between two BCL factions at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) yesterday.
The dead, Sumon Chandra Das, was a third-year BBA student of a private institution, Sylhet International University.
He was a follower of Bidhan Kumar Saha, organising secretary of now-dissolved Sylhet city BCL. During the clash, over a hundred outsiders, including Sumon, joined the side of SUST BCL President Sanjibon against Anjan-Uttam group.
Son of Haradhon Das of Derai upazila in Sunamganj, 21-year-old Sumon died from bullet wounds in his throat at MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital in Sylhet.
Of the injured, at least 14, including two shot with rubber bullets, were admitted to the hospital. SUST Proctor Himadri Shekhar Roy suffered minor injuries being hit with a rubber bullet in the leg.
Following the clash, the authorities in an emergency meeting closed the university for an indefinite period. A three-member committee led by former SUST treasurer Prof Ilias Uddin Biswas was formed to probe the incident.
Students left the dormitories by 4:00pm on the administration's instructions, while female students were asked to leave by 9:00am today.
However, the process for admission to the first-year honours classes would continue as per schedule, said SUST Vice-Chancellor Prof Aminul Haque Bhuiyan.
After the formation of the SUST unit committee of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) in May last year, the faction led by Sanjibon Chakravarty Partho was driven out of the campus.
Since then, Anjan Roy, the unit's vice-president, and Uttam Das, a central committee member of the pro-ruling Awami League student body, had been ruling the campus, students said.
Around 200 followers of Sanjibon, along with Bidhan's men who were mostly outsiders, stormed the campus around 11:00am yesterday, they added.
They got split into two -- one group took control of Shahporan Hall and vandalised at least 30 rooms while the other fanned out to the rest of the campus, according to witnesses.
Within a few minutes, the Anjan-Uttam group showed up and put up a fight. After a gunbattle for around an hour, they finally managed to take back the dormitory.
Sanjibon's men, however, captured the 2nd Students Hall.
At different points of the campus, the rival groups were locked into running battles and clashes. Activists of both sides were carrying sharp weapons and sticks; some were seen wielding small firearms.
Police came soon after the violence flared up but stood by for a long time, witnesses said. Around 12:30pm, they stepped in and fired rubber bullets, shotgun shells and teargas.
As the factions resumed shooting around 1:30pm, police swung into action again and asked the activists to leave the dormitories, said Mohammad Rahmat Ullah, additional deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
Finally, police took the situation under control. Over a hundred outsiders were moved out of the campus around 2:30pm by two university buses, said the witnesses.
Anjan told The Daily Star that Sanjibon's men along with armed outsiders attacked his boys all of a sudden.
However, Sanjibon claimed the rivals had beat up his men who went to the hall yesterday in line with a previous negotiation.