'BCL attack' leaves 10 Titumir students hurt

At least 10 students of the capital's Government Titumir College were injured yesterday in an alleged attack by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists on a human chain formed on the campus protesting charging of "excessive fees" for the registration of the honours final year exam.

Two of the injured, Rahmat Hossain, 21, and Riazul Islam, 22, were treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The protest organisers claimed that 10 to 12 fellows had been detained by police.

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Preferring anonymity, one of the injured, a final year management student, told The Daily Star that he paid Tk 3,900 for the registration and Tk 2,700 as the session charge.

In Dhaka College, the fees are Tk 3,175 and Tk 2,200 respectively, he claimed, quoting his friends studying management there as saying, adding that National University held the exam. He also accused police of "aiding the attack".

Principal Prof Abu Haider Ahmed Naser assured looking into yesterday's incident and said he did not exactly know what had happened.

He termed the excessive registration fee allegation baseless, claiming that the Dhaka College figures were low as it had realised some of the fees beforehand.

Without clarifying whether the student organisation's activists were involved in the attack, Titumir College unit BCL President Kazi Mirajul Islam Dollar said some students had slapped around a few "outsiders" taking part in the human chain.

This happened after the "outsiders" tried to flee on being asked by some BCL leaders to reveal their identities, he claimed.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner (Gulshan zone) Rafiqul Islam said police aided no attack and seven persons were detained over "a clash between two groups of students". A case is being filed, he said.