Fatema Tuj Johora, a sociology teacher at the University of Chittagong, can still vividly recall the day that left her traumatised throughout the past one year.
She is among ten teachers who sustained injuries on September 10 last year in a bomb attack on two teachers’ buses of the university in Hathazari’s Chararkul area.
“I’m still carrying a splinter inside my right arm that prevents me from smoothly moving the hand. My hands and legs still tremble when I try to write something,” Fatema, who termed the bomb attack heinous, told the Dhaka Tribune.
At least 14 people, including ten teachers, were injured in the attack allegedly made by members of the university’s Islami Chhatra Shibir unit. A general strike was in force on the campus on the day and the teachers’ buses were heading to the campus when the attack was carried out.
The strike was called under the banner of CU General Students demanding that Shah Amanat and Suhrawardy dorms be reopened.
Like Fatema, Sabrina Alam, a lecturer of applied physics, also received splinter injuries in her right arm during the attack that left the limb badly damaged. But she told the Dhaka Tribune she did not want to discuss what had happened on the day any more.
Dr Jamal Uddin Ahmed, head of the Department of Applied Physics, said Sabrina’s right hand was not fully functional yet. “She uses a spoon to have her meal. The attack has left her emotionally devastated.”
Dr Sayeda Halima Begum, assistant professor of chemistry, is another survivor of the attack. She said fear still gripped her whenever she heard any explosion or saw any crowd.
“The bomb attack left me with a hearing impairment,” she added.
The victims said they continued to suffer agonies even a year after the attack but justice was still elusive.
“Whom will I demand punishment for? It is allegedly our own students who made the attack. What could be more disgraceful than this?” said Sabrina, her voice filled with disdain.
Hours after the vicious attack, Deputy Director (transport) of the university Rabiul Alam lodged a case with Hathazari police station, accusing 20 to 25 unnamed people.
The investigating officer of the case was changed twice in a year but neither police nor the university authorities is aware of the progress in the investigation.
Chittagong University Teachers’ Association General Secretary Professor Dr Khasrul Alam Quddusi said he would have to inquire about the progress of the case.
The university authorities expelled five students, who confessed to the attack in court on October 1 last year.
The third investigating officer of the case, sub-inspector Mizanur Rahman of Hathazari police station, told the Dhaka Tribune two of the accused had confessed to the crime under Section 164.
“Police are trying to arrest others whose names were revealed in the confessions. The charge sheet will hopefully be submitted soon.”
Police after the attack had raided three Shibir-dominated dormitories and several shibir-run cottages on the campus, and recovered firearms, petrol bombs, crude bombs, gun powder and sharp weapons.
Sources said police filed five cases over the recovery of the arms and bombs while 136 Shibir members and 286 unidentified persons had been named in the cases.
The vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chouwdhury, told the Dhaka Tribune he had urged the authorities concerned to assist, financially or technically, those who had sustained injuries in the attack.
