Rangamati, Sep 22 (bdnews24.com) — Nearly 50 boys were injured as Pahari and Bengali students of the Rangamati Government College clashed on Saturday, prompting authorities to shut the college down sine die and impose ban on any kind of gathering in the district town.
An argument between a Pahari and a Bengali student touched off the clashes, which soon spread in different parts of the city, including College Gate, Bonorupa and Kalindi areas.
College Principal Banchita Chakma confirmed indefinite closure of the institution following the clashes that broke out at 10am.
District Superintendent of Police Masud Ul Hasan said the situation was brought under control after they slapped Section 144, which bans any public gathering, in the city and police personnel were deployed at strategic points.
Two of the injured were admitted in the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital, 28 others at the Combined Military Hospital and the rest at the Rangamati General Hospital.
The clashes pulled in an uneasy calm in the city with shopkeepers downing their shutters and other schools and colleges also announcing immediate closure.
Traffic also came to an abrupt halt following the clashes as no bus left either for local destinations or on the long routes.
Several shops and bikes were vandalised during the clash.
Army, Border Guard Bangladesh and police teams were patrolling the city's streets to avert any further violence.
Rangamati, one of the three hill districts, was rocked by violence only three days back when Khagrachharhi had experienced another wave of unrest after Bengali Awami League men enforced a dawn-to-dusk strike protesting attack on one of their leaders.
Hill districts in Bangladesh have seen unabated Bengali infiltration and settlement, allegedly sponsored by the state, over the last few decades, displacing hundreds of Pahari families.
Unrest breaks out in the hilly region every now and then as Pahari people are standing with their back against the wall against an ever-growing dominance of Bengali settlers, turning the region a tinderbox of Bangladesh.
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