Students clash with police in Shahbagh

Students holding separate demonstrations at Dhaka University have clashed with police.

Students of Medical Assistance Training School or MATS, protesting the five-fold increase in tuition fees, fought with police around 11am Thursday.

Police brought in water cannons and lobbed tear shells during the pitched battle from the TSC to Shahbagh. MATS students were seen hurling brickbats at police.    

The situation returned to normal after more than an hour of back-to-back clashes. But fighting resumed in the area when police blocked a march of the Socialist Students' Front.   

MATS students then joined the fight against police.

Police are said to have detained several protestors from the area. Students in the area said several protesters have been injured.

At least 300 students have been injured during the clashes, according to MATS students.

The students have threatened to start a hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar if the prime minister does not agree to their four-point charter of demands.

Policemen were also injured, said Maruf Hossain Sardar, deputy commissioner of police for Ramna Zone. “We have detained some protesters. We’ll question them.”

Students said the police detained 100 protesters. Their intention was to march towards the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) or start a sit-in at the Shahbagh intersection, Sardar said.

"There are two big hospitals here. Both patients and commuters will suffer if they start a sit-in. They can send representatives to the PMO.”

"We've been trying since morning to make them understand. We were forced to use teargas because they didn’t listen to us.”