Staff Reporter :
At least 15 activists of Progressive Students Alliance were injured on Friday when the police charged baton on the agitators who were protesting against the death of Mushtaq Ahmed in prison.
The injured were taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Rupok Ray, general secretary of Dhaka city unit of Bangladesh Student Federation.
The incident took place at about 7:30pm when they reached in front of the Public Library with a torch procession, begun from the alter of the Raju Memorial Sculpture on DU campus.
Later, the police also lobbed tear gas in front of the Dhaka University’s central mosque to disperse the protesters, Rupok said.
Rashed Shahriar, General Secretary of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, said police stopped their torch procession in front of Public Library and charged baton on them when the protestors attempted to continue the protest defying barrier.
“After the baton charge, the protesters took position near Dhaka University’s Central Mosque area from Shahbagh. Later, there an altercation was held between police and protestors. At one stage, the demonstrators threw brickbats at police. Police charged the baton again and lobbed tear gas to disperse the agitators.”
Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mamun Ur Rashid said, “At first, the protesters threw torches and bricks at us. Six to seven of our policemen were injured. The police resisted them in self-defense.”
