Police reportedly charged batons against students participating in the protest under the banner Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement in Jessore on Wednesday.
Additionally, several students involved in the movement have been reported detained.
Police suddenly began charging batons on students in a march in front of the Jessore Police Superintendent's (SP) office around 12pm on Wednesday.
The students had planned a “March for Justice” as part of their previously announced agenda for the day.
Around 11am, students attempted to gather in front of the Press Club on Mujib Road but were hindered by extensive police searches at every street corner, preventing them from assembling.
At about 11:15am, police detained five students, including Ibrahim Khalil, in front of the Jessore Press Club. Some of them were later released.
At the same time, in the Old Kasba-Chuadanga Stand area, police detained seven people, including a few young men from Barobazar in Kaliganj upazila, Jhenaidah, and students from MM College, from an auto-rickshaw. It is unclear whether they were later released.
According to witnesses, around 12pm, a procession from Jessore Government MM College, moving from the stadium through Shilpakala and Waapda towards Palbari, was attacked by police and Detective Branch (DB) officers as they passed Jessore Municipal Building. The police used batons to beat the protesters. Although the procession was momentarily disorganized, the students regrouped and continued marching towards Palbari.
Earlier, around 11:15am, one of the key coordinators of the student movement, Rashed Khan, and a few associates took a position at Jessore Municipal Park.
Police and DB members also gathered there. As students slowly assembled, police called in auto-rickshaws to remove them. The students greeted the police officers with roses.
During the protest, student leader Rashed Khan said: “The police have detained our students and are intimidating them. Police are conducting searches at every corner of the city, preventing the youth from entering.
“This oppression will not stop the student movement. It has now taken on the form of a mass movement. The more arrests and abuses there are, the more vigorous the movement will become,” he added.
Meanwhile, attempts to reach Additional Police Superintendent Belal Hossain and Jessore's Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdur Razzak, for comments on the baton-charging and arrests were unsuccessful.