Blast at RU hall sparks panic

No-one was injured in the blast that prompted the police to raid the hall. They recovered a chapati (machete), iron rods, pipes and a hacksaw blade from two rooms belonging to Islamic Chhatra Shibir activists.

Mohammad Nazim, general secretary of the hall unit of Shibir, resides in one of the rooms, sources said.

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At around 10.15am, Ganesh, a cleaner, found a packet at the storeroom on the second floor of the hall. Thinking it a packet of books, he threw the packet towards a window of the room but it exploded halfway.

Rafique, another cleaner of the hall, said that he heard sounds of two blasts.

Police locked the main gate of the hall within half an hour of the incident as panic gripped the students. Some 200 policemen, led by the RU authorities and police, conducted a raid on the hall for two and a half hours.

The raid was launched to ensure security for the students, said hall Provost Prof. Amjad Hossain.

Students said that the raid did not pay off as most outsiders aligned to Shibir managed to flee before the police stepped in.

They also alleged that some pro-government student leaders' rooms were not checked.

Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Rawshan Ara, however, denied the allegation.

RU authorities formed a three-member committee headed by Latif Hall provost Prof Amjad Hossain to investigate the blast.

None was arrested till the writing of the report, but Ganesh was picked up for interrogation.