Bhasani University closed sine die

50 hurt as students clash with villagers over trifling matter
Maulana Bhasani University of Science and Technology (MBUST) was closed yesterday for an indefinite period following a fierce clash between students and local people that left at least 50 persons injured.
Several student messes and shops adjacent to the university were also ransacked during the two hours long clash.
Failing to bring the situation under control, the university authorities declared it closed sine die and asked the students to vacate the hostels within 6:00 pm yesterday.
Three students, including a female student, received rubber-bullet wounds as police fired several tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the students and local people. They were rushed to Tangail General Hospital.
Police said the clash erupted between the two groups following an altercation between a student and a shopkeeper over price of green chili at Santosh Bazar in Tangail, adjacent to the campus, in the morning.
A group of students and local people, including shopkeepers, locked in the clash and threw brickbats each others, leaving several people, including students injured, campus sources said.
At one stage, the shopkeepers and local people got united and attacked its dormitory and ransacked a students’ room on the campus. They also attacked several messes of the students near the university and damaged several computers.
In retaliation, the angry students attacked the shopkeepers and damaged several shops at the bazar, leaving several people injured.
On information, a police team led by ASP Basir Ahmed rushed to the spot but failed to bring the situation under control.
Vice-chancellor of the university Prof Nurul Islam, SP Mizanur Rahman, Additional District Magistrate Saidur Rahman and local political leaders rushed in and talked to both the feuding groups but they also failed to pacify them.
Later, the university was declared closed for an indefinite period to avoid the clash, said Prof Nurul Islam Miah, registrar of the university.
A tense situation was prevailing around the campus till filing of this report at 4:00 pm. Additional police were deployed on the campus to avoid further clash.

Courtesy of The Daily Star