DU students block Karwan Bazar protesting Ansar ‘assault’

A group of Dhaka University (DU) students on Monday blocked the Karwan Bazar intersection, protesting an alleged assault on fellow students by Ansar personnel.

The demonstration disrupted traffic on all roads around the intersection -- one of the busiest in Dhaka city -- for about 45 minutes, creating long tailbacks, according to personnel at the Traffic Control Room of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

bdnews24.com photojournalist Abdul Mannan Dipto was on the spot.

He said when a bus carrying DU students from the direction of Bangla Motor tried to ignore a traffic signal at the intersection, some Ansar personnel on duty stopped it, triggering a brawl with the students.

The Ansar members then allegedly beat up some students.

Protesting the assault, the students got off the bus and started demonstrating at the intersection around 1:45pm, halting traffic on the roads leading to Farmgate, Shahbagh, FDC and Panthapath areas.

They left the spot only after police officials on duty assured them that the incident would be looked into, said Dipto.

The DU bus, named Falgun, transports students between Gulshan-Baridhara and the university campus.

Shams Miraz, president of bus’s student committee, said: “Our driver honked while we were stuck in the traffic. That upset some Ansar and police personnel, who then misbehaved with us.”

“They also took five of our fellow students to a police car, beat them up and took away their mobile phones, which were later recovered,” he added.

On the other hand, Ramna police OC Abul Kalam Azad said, “The bus tried to drive on, ignoring the signal. That triggered a brawl between some Ansar personnel and the students. The students dragged an Ansar member named Ramzan into the bus and beat him up.”

Ramzan was later admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, he claimed.