Bhasani University in Tangail
180 students sued on charge of damaging property
General students stage rally protesting action
Bhasani university authorities on Tuesday night filed a case against 180 students of Food Technology and Nutritional Science (FTNS) under Speedy Trial Act for violent agitation on the day demanding renaming of degree.
Mohammad Jomrud Hossain, acting registrar of Maolana Bhasani University of Science and Technology (MBUST), filed the case with Tangail Sadar police station naming 30 students and 150 unnamed others.
It was alleged in the case that the FTNS students illegally locked the administrative building and confined the Vice-chancellor (VC) and 150 teachers and staff to their offices in the name of agitation to rename degree.
The unruly students also created panic and damaged valuables worth Tk 200,000 including computers and photocopiers there, said the complaint.
On Tuesday 207 students of FTNS department locked the administrative building at about 11:00am and confined the VC and other 150 teachers and staffs demanding BSc (Engineering) degree instead of BSc (Honours) degree.
Later, police and firefighters freed the VC and others at 4:15pm dispersing the agitating students by charging baton and spraying water on them.
At least 15 students of FTNS department were hurt during the baton charge. Police also arrested 10 students of the department from the campus.
After the incident, the university authorities in an urgent meeting suspended all activities including classes and examinations of the FTNS department for indefinite period.
The authorities also directed all the 207 students of the department to leave the campus and dormitories by 6:00pm on the day.
Jasim Uddin Sarkar, officer-in-charge of the police station, told this correspondent that the 10 arrested students were sent to jail through a Tangail court yesterday on filing a case under the Speedy Trial Act against them.
This correspondent while visiting the campus yesterday saw a large number of police deployed at different points of the campus.
Several FTNS department students told this correspondent that it was a matter of shame that the university authorities not only tortured the students brutally with the help of police but also filed case against them under Speedy Trial Act by bringing false allegations.
Contacted Omar Faruque, proctor of MBUST, said the allegations brought against the students are under investigation.
Meantime, the general students of the university yesterday bitterly condemned the police action on the innocent students on the campus and at student messes.
They requested the university authorities for fair investigation into the incidents and demanded release of the arrestees.
The general students staged a protest rally at the Shaheed Minar on the campus yesterday morning and submitted a memorandum to the VC.
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