At least 10 students were injured and about 30 gunshots were heard during a clash between the rival BCL factions on the Dhaka College premise on Sunday night. The injured students have been sent to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
President Fuad-al-Hasan Pallab and General Secretary Sakib Hasan Swim lead the rival groups. Many rooms of the college dormitories were also vandalised. The Hazaribagh and the New Market Thana police getting information moved in quickly to the spot and raided different rooms of the halls and recovered huge home and foreign made lethal weapons. They also picked up 15 BCL activists from the campus. Their names could not be known instantly.
Sources said that the clash began over beating of a supporter of the president group by Rinku, a worker of the secretary group. But victim Masud blamed the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists for the assault. Meanwhile, the leaders and the activists of both the factions of BCL were taking preparation with arms from the evening and the clash started at midnight.
The general students said that the college administration had failed to tackle the unruly activities of the BCL. Some of them said, the college principal administers the college as advised by the BCL, which is destroying academic atmosphere.
A student of Political Science Department said, some BCL leaders have illegal arms business under the nose of the law enforcing agencies, which do not take any action against the crime, even after the murder of Rakib-al-Faruque.
BCL leaders wishing anonymity said that the BCL central committee dissolved the Dhaka College unit after the death of Faruque. But the office-bearers of the dissolved committee take part in all the programme of the organisations under the shadow of few influential BCL central leaders.
BCL President HM Badiuzzaman Sohag told The New Nation there was no committee at Dhaka college. The central committee can’t bear liability of the dissolved committee.
Riazul Hakim, Superintendent of the International Hostel, has hinted of academic action against the leaders responsible for unrest on the campus.
Assistant Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), (crime Department), said that they had picked up 15 students from the college dormitories in presence of the college administration.
It may be mentioned that a gunfight was held in 2013 between the rival groups of BCL, Dhaka College unit, witnessing death of Rakib-al-Faruque. But the killers are yet to be arrested.
Sources said that Dhaka College has turned into a mini cantonment as the rival factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) to establish supremacy on the college campus use both home and foreign made lethal weapons.
There were reports of casualties also, but every time the college administration overlooked it, which made the unruly activists desperate.
The law enforcing agencies and the BCL, central committee too did not take any stern action against those who were involved in the incidents.
