BGB deployed to Rajshahi University as students, locals clash

The clashes over an altercation with transport workers turn violent, prompting the authorities to deploy seven platoons of BGB personnel in the area

The authorities have deployed Border Guard Bangladesh to Rajshahi University after arson attacks during clashes between students and locals over an altercation with transport workers.

Attackers torched several shops next to the Binodpur gate of the university after the clashes erupted on Saturday evening. A police box and a motorcycle were also burnt at the gate.

More than 50 people, including police and journalists, were injured in the clashes, and many of them were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

The university suspended classes and exams for two days after the incident, Vice Chancellor Prof Golam Shabbir Sattar said.

The incident began in the evening on the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway near Binodpur Bazar and gradually spread to the surrounding area, said Abdus Salam, chief of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch.

Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel brought the fire under control at the shops and the police box.

According to students and locals, Alamin Akash, a sociology student who got admitted in the 2017-18 session, engaged in an altercation with the workers of bus company Mohammad Paribahan while travelling to Rajshahi from Bogura.

Upon arriving at the university's Binodpur gate, the student continued to argue with the transport workers.

A local shopkeeper intervened and got engaged in an altercation with the students who gathered at Binodpur gate after the bus stopped. The situation escalated to a brawl, witnesses said.

Later, students from the university's sociology department gathered at the scene and attacked local shopkeepers. In response, the locals launched a counter-attack, leading to violent clashes.

The students also blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway as both sides started throwing brickbats at each other.