Staff Reporter :
Authorities on Sunday closed the Jahangirnagar University (JU) for an indefinite period and asked the students to vacate their dormitories immediately.
The university authorities took the decision at an emergency syndicate meeting on Saturday following a clash between the general students in one side and cops-Bangladesh Chhatra League activists on the other.
The general students laid a siege and vandalized the Vice-Chancellor’s residence on the campus, demanding punishment for the BCL activists who earlier attacked them while they were protesting deaths of two fellows in Friday’s road accident blocking the Dhaka-Aricha Highway.
Both male and female students have already left their respective dormitories. The students, especially female, faced serious difficulties as many of them failed to go to their respective village homes due to lack of transports.
Meanwhile, 42 students arrested on Friday night from their respective halls got bail after they were produced before a Dhaka court in connection with a vandalism case.
Police arrested them while vandalizing the VC’s residence protesting death of their two fellow students in a road crash on Friday. They were shown arrested in a vandalism case on Sunday.
During the incident, the university authorities called in the police to bring the situation under control. Police then arrested them. They were produced before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Mostafizur Rahman Sunday afternoon. The court passed the bail order after their lawyer moved separate petitions seeking bail in the case.
When contacted Mohsinul Quadir, Officer-in-Charge, Ashulia Police Station, said
JU Registrar Abu Bakkar filed the case on Sunday morning accusing 50 people.
“The JU Registrar said the students assaulted teachers, vandalized Vice Chancellor’s residence and created indiscipline on the campus in the name of movement,” the OC said.
“The residential students were asked to vacate the dormitories by 10:00am on Sunday,” said Syndicate member as well as Dean of Social Science Faculty M Amir Hossain.
Additional Police Super of Dhaka District Kazi Ashraful Azim said that a case was filed against some 50 unruly students for carrying out vandalism at the residence of the VC.
“Following the order of JU administration, police arrested some 42 students from the spot,” he added.
On Friday Nazmul Hasan Rana, 24, a student of the Marketing Department and Mehedi Hasan Arafat, 24, a student of the Microbiology Department of JU, were killed as a bus hit a human hauler on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway in Savar.
Later, the students laid seize to the residence of VC and carried out vandalism there.
The agitated students also swooped on the teachers when they were trying to prevent them from vandalising the VC’s residence, leaving at least 10 teachers injured.
On Friday the students blocked the Dhaka-Aricha Highway protesting the killings.
On Saturday morning, students in large numbers started to gather on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway at about 11.30am and staged demonstration.
Police also swooped on the students and started clubbing them. Being beaten up, the students also pelted stones targeting the law enforcers.
Police also lobbed of tear shells and fired several rounds of rubber bullets to disperse the agitating students.
At one stage, activists of the JU unit of BCL joined with the cops and launched attack on the agitating students injuring many of them.
