Police manhandle, detain demonstrators demanding fresh medical entry test

Police have detained at least ten demonstrators in Dhaka demanding fresh admission tests for medical and dental colleges.

The protestors, held in front of the Public Library on Wednesday, were taken to the Shahbagh police station before being shifted to the Ramna police, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of police (Ramna) Md Jasim told bdnews24.com.
 
bdnew24.com’s Dhaka University Correspondent Tapan Kanti Roy reported from the spot that some activists of the leftist student body, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (SCF), who voice solidarity with the agitators, were taken to the Shahbagh police station also.
 
Pictures by bdnews24.com photojournalists show police manhandling SCF activists there.
 

As many as 83,000 candidates took medical and dental admission tests for 11,049 seats in the MBBS and BDS courses on Sept 18.

Candidates have held demonstrations at various places against alleged question leak from the very next day.

The results published on Sep 20 showed 48, 448 students or 58.4 percent cleared the tests.

Agitators were supposed to hold a rally at the Shaheed Minar on the Dhaka University campus on Wednesday, but police had reached before they arrived.

They gathered at the TSC intersection and held the rally before taking out a procession leading to the capital’s Shahbagh intersection.

Police stopped them in front of the Public Library, resulting in a scuffle. Police dragged at least ten agitators to the nearby Shahbagh police station.

Witnesses told bdnews24.com that police had beaten up some of the protesters. 

Around 12pm, SCF activists took out a procession heading for Shahbag, demanding fresh entry tests and the release of detained demonstrators.

Police intervened, when a scuffle broke out, and several SCF activists were dragged in to the police station.  

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s ADC Md Jasim said: “Not all of the agitators were admission-seekers. Some of wanted to gather at the Shaheed Minar, some at the TSC intersection, and others at Shahbagh. Their differing intentions aroused suspicion, So, some have been detained.”