At least 20 people were injured, three by bullet, in two separate clashes in the Dhaka University area during the ongoing protest of BCS quota protesters in between Thursday morning and afternoon.
Of the injured, nine were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Our correspondents reported that three people sustained injuries as a number of Chhatra league cadres pounced on a procession of Dhaka University students, who protested the quota system in civil service, at around 12:30pm at the university campus.
Led by BCL Dhaka University wing’s president Mehedi Hasan and secretary Omar Sharif, activists and cadres of different residential hall units attacked the procession while it was passing the lecture theatre.
BCL cadres dispersed the procession, beating them with lethal weapons, sticks, bamboo and iron rods.
The procession was heading towards Shahbagh, where a number of disqualified BCS applicants on Wednesday began demonstrations for the cancellation of the quota system, and a review of the result of the preliminary examinations.
BCL later claimed the anti-quota demonstrators to be Shibir activists, and brought out another procession with a call to resist them at the campus.
Anti-quota demonstrators storm VC residence
Later, 17 more people were injured as demonstrators laid a siege in front of the vice chancellor’s official residence and stormed the gate, attacked the guard and damaged the garden at around 1:30pm.
Arriving at the scene, police hurled tear shells to foil the crowd.
Dhaka University Proctor Amzad Ali said: “When they began demonstration yesterday [Wednesday], we were sympathetic to their demand, but today [Thursday] what they are doing indicates that some other forces, maybe from Jamaat-Shibir, have infiltrated them and doing the damage working from inside. These kind of activities are quite unacceptable.”
