MC College shut, 12 Shibir men held
The Government Murari Chand College was closed for an indefinite period yesterday following Sunday's violence between the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Islami Chhatra Shibir.
The authorities of the college also asked the students yesterday to vacate all the dormitories by 6:00pm.
At least 20 people were injured as the activists of BCL and Shibir clashed on the college campus on Sunday. The BCL activists also torched at least 42 rooms of the college hostel soon after the clash.
An academic committee headed by Dhiresh Chandra Sarkar, principal of the college, yesterday took the decision to shut the college.
A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident. The committee is to submit its reports within 15 days, sources said.
Earlier, in the morning, police detained 12 Shibir leaders and activists on charge of their alleged involvement in the violence.
Of them, five were arrested for their alleged involvement with the arson and seven were picked up from different parts of the city for questioning, said Rezaul Karim, deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
The arrestees include college unit Shibir secretary Mamun Hossain.
Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet metropolitan police (SMP) Rezaul Karim said, Shaokat Hosain Mashuk, a student of 2nd year Economics filed a case accusing 39 named and 50 unnamed people on charge of torching his room Sunday night. Of the accused, five Shibir activists were caught yesterday morning, he added.
Principal Dhiresh Sarker said, MC College had never witnessed such a shameful incident. He said 42 rooms were totally gutted while 70 others affected.
Books, computers, furnitures and other valuables in those rooms were burnt to ashes, he added.
City Shibir president Anwarul Wadud Tipu said the BCL men forced their activists out of the dormitory before setting their rooms afire. He refuted the allegation of beating a BCL man first on Sunday on the campus.
College sources said, at about 6:30pm Sunday, activists of BCL and Shibir locked in an altercation on the college playground over playing football.
As a sequel to that, Shibir men later picked up Ujjal Sarker, a BCL activist to the dormitory where they beat him up. When the news spread, the BCL men stormed into the dormitory, triggering fierce clash for about an hour.
At a stage, the Shibir men left the dormitory and the BCL activists set the rooms afire.
Contacted, city BCL president Rahat Tarafder refuted the allegation. He claimed that the Shibir men swooped on BCL activists and set the rooms afire before leaving the spot.
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