Maulana Bhasani University of Science and Technology (MBUST) in Tangail shut its doors indefinitely on Saturday following violent clashes between students and local traders that left at least 50 injured and 25 shops gutted by fire, while police were forced to use rubber bullets to bring things under control. Police said four hours of violence, from 10am to 2pm, was sparked when an altercation between a student and fish trader at Santash Bazar spiralled out of control. "Police fired 10 rounds of rubber bullets in an attempt to bring the situation under control," officer-in-charge of Tangail Sadar Police Station Jasim Uddin told bdnews24.com.
Sub-inspector of the police station, Mosharraf Hossen, said a group of students set fire to around 25 shops in the market. He said at least 50 people were injured during four hours of violence that began at around 10am.
Two hours into the clashes, around noon, Sadar Upazila chairman Abdur Rashid, Tangail municipality mayor Jamilur Rahman Fazlur Rahman Faruk and general secretary of the district Awami League unit sat with students in the presence of the vice chancellor. Deputy commissioner Maksudur Rahman Patwary and police superintendent also went to the campus around 1pm to negotiate with the students and calm the situation. But students made another united attack on the market just before 2pm.
Ashrafur Rahman, a second year student of textile engineering, told bdnews24.com that shop owners of the kitchen market adjacent to the campus sell goods at "higher prices than normal. They also tease female students when they go shopping." Additional superintendent Bashir Ahmed said a fish retailer sold a fish at Tk 70 to one customer, he demanded Tk 220 for a similar fish from a student. "That was the start of the dispute," he said.
| Look at the additional overhead costs of selling to students: 25 shops with their inventory gutted by fire, 50 people injured. "Boys will be boys," has a price, Mr. Rahman. |