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Published : 03 Aug 2024, 03:04 AM
A youth and a policeman have died and dozens injured in parts of the country during a series of clashes during the march supporting the nationwide mass protest rally called by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, a platform of quota reform activists.
The deaths were reported in Habiganj district and Khulna. The parades in these areas left around 40 police personnel injured, while several protesters were hospitalised after a clash between the demonstrators and police in Dhaka’s Uttara Sector 11.
Amid intermittent rain in Dhaka, students and the general public turned out in numbers to attend the mass protest march called by the student movement platform in many parts of the capital.
DHAKA
Students staged protests in different areas across the capital after Friday’s Juma prayers in support of the quota reform movement and to demand justice for the slain students.
Students from schools, colleges, and universities massed at the Science Laboratory intersection after the Friday prayers. People under the banner of Qawmi students marched from Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, through the Shahbagh area, and arrived in front of the National Press Club, where a leftist student organisation was holding a rally.
Protesters at the Science Laboratory intersection conducted a march. Students from Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Dhanmondi Ideal College, Dhaka City College, Bir Srestha Munshi Abdur Rouf College, Bir Sreshtha Noor Mohammid Public College and others were present at the protest.
The Qawmi students’ march also included general students and leftist political activists.
Police armed with anti-riot gear were deployed in front of and around Baitul Mukarram ahead of the procession.
Marches were also seen in Aftabnagar, Dhanmondi, Bangla Motor, the Shaheed Minar area, and Uttara. Students drenched by the rain were changing slogans on the streets.
Students from East-West University in Aftabnagar took out a march from 11:30am. They paraded through the rain, crossed Rampura Bridge, through the BRAC University area, and reached East-West University.
They demanded justice for the students killed during the quota movement protests in front of East-West University and called for detained students to be freed. Police personnel guarded the front and back of the march.
PROTESTERS, POLICE CLASH IN UTTARA
Police and the protesters engaged in a clash at Uttara Sector 11 adjacent to the Milestone College campus and Zam Zam Tower in Dhaka.
The clash occurred on Friday afternoon as the protesters started marching as part of the mass rally event called by the platform of quota reform protesters.
Senior police officers were on duty on the scene, Uttara West Police Station’s duty officer Sub-Inspector Md Bayezid said.
Additional police personnel were deployed in the Uttara area since the morning surrounding the student rally. The clash started between the protesters and police at one point when the students marched.
The protesting students have alleged that police fired blanks and sound grenades during the incident. Several protesters were hospitalised with injuries, they claimed.
CHATTOGRAM
Protesters took to the streets in Chattogram to demand justice for the ‘killing of students’ during the violence surrounding the quota protest movement.
Several thousands of them began marching after Juma prayers at the Andarkilla Shahi Jamme Mosque on Friday.
They left the mosque premises around 1:45pm. There was a big police presence near the mosque, but they did not block the protesters.
As the rain began pouring down heavily around 2:30pm, a section of protesters crossed Laldighi and moved towards New Market. After staying there for some time, they proceeded along Station Road to the Tiger Pass intersection, where they began protesting again.
The march then continued along the GEC to Muradpur and then to the Bahaddarhat intersection.
HABIGANJ
A young man was reportedly shot dead in Habiganj during clashes between quota reform protesters, BNP activists, police, and Bangladesh Chhatra League workers.
The victim was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital on Friday afternoon, according to Aminul Haque Sarkar, the in-charge of Habiganj Sadar Hospital.
The deceased, identified as 26-year-old Mostak Ahmed, sustained gunshot wounds to his chest and back.
He worked as a lineman for a Power Development Board contractor and was a resident of Tukerbazar in Sylhet.
Earlier, clashes erupted in the Tinkona Pukurpar area of Habiganj town around 3:30pm.
During the violence, the gate of the residence of Habiganj-3 MP and District Awami League President Abu Zahir was vandalised, and 10 motorcycles were set on fire.
The district AL office was also set ablaze.
SYLHET
A series of clashes between the protesters and police for more than five hours left around nine policemen injured in Sylhet city.
Around 8:45pm on Friday, Sylhet Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Azbahar Ali said, “The situation returned to normal in the city a little earlier. Nine police officers have been injured and 12 people were taken to police custody following their arrests.”
The clashes between police and the students and general public in the city’s Modina Market Point and Akhalia areas began around 3:30pm on Friday and continued until 8:30pm. The people from both areas joined in the student protest.
The residents of Modina Market-Bagbari Road area said they heard sounds of grenades even after 8:30pm.
Meanwhile, more than 100 students are claimed to have been injured in the city’s intermittent chases between police and the protesters. In addition, journalists and pedestrians were also injured.
KHULNA
A police constable was killed and around 30 other policemen injured in a clash with protesters in Khulna.
The incident occurred in the Gallamari area adjacent to Khulna University on Friday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Sumon Gharami, a native of Kachua Upazila of Bagerhat who was stationed at the police lines.
Sumon was severely beaten by the protesters during the clash. He was rushed to Khulna City Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, according to Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Mozammel Haque.
The violence erupted when a student procession as part of the ‘Student-People March’ called by the Anti-discrimination Student Movement arrived in Gallamari around 3:15pm.
Police responded by firing tear gas shells from the Zero Point area, leading to repeated confrontations with the protesters.
Witnesses said the students had initially gathered at New Market around 2:30pm and later moved to Shib Bari Square.
They chanted slogans against police, the Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB, and Border Guard Bangladesh, or BGB, for alleged brutality during recent quota protests.
As police attempted to disperse the crowd, the students marched towards Khulna University and threw brickbats at Sonadanga Police Station.
