Police detain 30 madrasa students

Police picked up 30 students, including 21 Dakhil and Alim examinees, after raiding a dormitory of Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa in the capital's Jatrabari early yesterday. 

On information of subversive activities, police conducted the drive, said Atikur Rahman, sub-inspector of Jatrabari Police Station.

Police, however, released 16 students in the custody of their guardians. They also showed six students arrested under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and eight others under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) act.

A Dhaka court fined eight students Tk 200 each, in default they have to serve six days in prison. Six others were sent to jail.

Madrasa students and teachers alleged that around 50 policemen entered the six-storey dormitory named Darul Anam by breaking open its main gate at Mir Hazirbagh. During the raid, the law enforcers beat up some students and damaged two rooms.

A staff of the madrasa told The Daily Star that police often harassed the students by raiding the madrasa. As a result, many left the dormitory. Around 60 students were there during the raid. 

When asked, Deputy Commissioner of Wari Division of the DMP Mustak Ahmed said police carried out the drive on the basis of information of planned subversive activities and seized huge books from the dormitory.

However, the madrasa students claimed the seized books are their textbooks.

Mohammad Abu Yusuf, vice-principal of the madrasa, said it was very sad that police detained the students, most of them examinees, when they were sleeping.

Students are in panic as police frequently enter the madrasa, he said.

Police could take action if any student was caught during committing crimes on the streets, Yusuf added.