Three students of Rajshahi University (RU) were injured after miscreants attacked them near the campus on Wednesday night, with one of them losing a hand after being struck with a sharp weapon.
The attack took place around 11:30pm at Kajla Canteen, a hotel adjacent to the university’s Kajla Gate.
The injured are Farabi, a student of the Finance Department (2021–22 session); Tamjid Ahmed Bakhshi, also of the Finance Department (2023–24 session); and Minhaj of the Drama Department.
Farabi was previously known as a follower of Mostafizur Rahman Babu, Chhatra League president of Madar Bakhsh Hall, but resigned from the organization on July 16 at the height of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Students block highway in protest
Following the attack, a group of students blocked the Dhaka–Rajshahi highway at the Kajla Gate around 1:30am on Thursday, demanding immediate identification and punishment of those involved.
“Students are being attacked openly. Where is the security?” the protesters said. “The attackers must be identified immediately and given exemplary punishment.”
How the attack unfolded
According to several students, the attack began inside the Kajla restaurant when miscreants assaulted Farabi. When Bakhshi, Rayan, Moinuddin of the Finance Department, and Minhaj tried to intervene, the assailants turned on them.
Minhaj and Farabi were later admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH), while Bakhshi received treatment at the university medical centre.
Injured student Tamjid Ahmed Bakhshi said more than 10 assailants arrived on motorcycles wearing helmets and masks.
“They dragged us outside the hotel and forced me into a rickshaw,” he said. “They took me through Octroy and Sweet intersections. Then one of them received a phone call and said, ‘We’re going to the police station. Let him go.’ They walked me around for half an hour and then left me behind the Kajla Molla School.”
Bakhshi added that the attackers repeatedly shouted: “Chhatra League, take him.”
Sijan, a Finance Department student from the 2021–22 session, said: “While we were eating at the canteen, a group of masked men arrived on 3–4 motorcycles and grabbed Farabi by the collar. They punched him and accused him of being a Chhatra League member. When students from the 2023–24 session tried to intervene, they were pushed down and one of them was taken away.”
He added that the assailants held a gun to the chest of another student during the attack.
“At one stage, they took Farabi to the kitchen and beat him. More motorcycles kept arriving. They threatened to shoot to scare us,” he said.
University response
RU Proctor Dr Mahbubur Rahman said none of the attackers had been identified so far.
“We are working with the police to determine the exact sequence of events and identify those involved,” he said.
