At least 21 students and physicians of Ganashasthaya Samaj Vittik Medical College under Gana Bishwabidyalaya in Savar were detained yesterday as they went on rampage inside the medical college and on Dhaka-Aricha highway following the death of Dr Murad in Patuakhali.
Officer-in-Charge of Ashulia police station Sheikh Badrul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune: “Some 21 students and physicians were held by the police and steps would be taken following the decisions of higher authorities.”
Witnesses said agitating students since Monday night had been storming the entire hospital area vandalising several departments and looting its pharmacy and cash counter of the hospital.
Source said the unrest arouse after the death of Md Makhlukur Rahman Mudad, a doctor of the hospital who was found dead on Sunday in Patuakhali.
The authorities claimed that agitated students forced the patients to flee the hospital and looted a pharmacy and the cash counter of the hospital.
However, the agitators denied the allegations, claiming that they only vandalised some buildings as the authorities did not pay heed to their demands regarding the death of Dr Murad.
The agitators demand that the mystery of the doctor’s death be unveiled, saying that they would not go to the sub-centres of Gonoshasthaya Kendra until proper securities were ensured.
Meanwhile, they also postponed the classes and examinations and declared work abstention, demanding Dr Murad’s family be provided compensation.
The agitators alleged that authorities were blaming them to mislead the situation, and claimed that police assaulted the agitators on Dhaka-Aricha highway while they were demonstrating peacefully.
Meanwhile, female students and doctors claimed that they were threatened by local terrorists to withdraw the movement while policemen assaulted them, launching raids in their hostel adjacent to the hospital.
Abu Taher, administrative officer of Gonoshasthaya Samaj Vittik Medical College, told the Dhaka Tribune that the authorities had filed a case in this regard on Monday night, alleging that valuables worth Tk2 crore were wasted because of the attack.
