Desk Report,
DMP Commissioner ‘expresses sorrow’ to students at Shahbagh
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md. Sajjat Ali has expressed regret over the attack on engineering students during their march towards the Jamuna, the residence of the Chief Advisor. He has assured to form a committee tomorrow (Thursday) to investigate the incident and take action.
DMP Commissioner ‘expresses sorrow’ to students at Shahbagh
He expressed this regret after visiting the students at Shahbagh intersection in the capital on Wednesday night. Addressing the students present, the DMP Commissioner said, “You are my dearest. My son is older than you. Your suffering also hurts me.” Along with the three main demands of the engineering students, there is another demand, the arrest of those involved in the incident of threatening to kill an engineer while holding him captive in Rangpur. In this regard, the DMP Commissioner said, “I spoke to the Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner before coming here regarding the incident in Rangpur. A GD has been filed there. I spoke to him to arrest the accused in this GD. He promised me that the accused will be arrested as soon as possible.’
At that time, the DMP Commissioner expressed regret for the incident that happened in front of the Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka. He said, ‘As the Police Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, I am very sorry and express my regret for the unpleasant incident that happened in front of the Hotel Intercontinental. I will form an investigation committee tomorrow (Thursday) for this unpleasant incident today.’ Engineering students are protesting with three demands. These are – stopping the use of the title ‘Engineer’ before the name of diploma engineers, not promoting anyone to the ninth grade and giving opportunities to graduate engineers based on their qualifications in the tenth grade. With these demands, the engineering students blocked Shahbagh intersection for five hours from yesterday afternoon to 8 pm. While leaving Shahbagh last night, the students had planned to hold a ‘Long March to Dhaka’ today and march towards the residence of the chief advisor.
Accordingly, around 11 am today, BUET students along with engineering students from various universities took up positions on the main road of Shahbagh. This brought all the roads in and around Shahbagh to a standstill. Around 1:30 pm, when the students were moving towards Jamuna, they faced police obstacles at the Hotel Intercontinental intersection. There, a police-sponsored chase ensued. When the students tried to break the police barricade, law enforcement forces fired tear gas shells and sound grenades to disperse the students. Later, the police lathicharged the students and dispersed them. Several students, including journalists, were injured in the incident. The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) authorities have condemned the incident.
Before the DMP Commissioner came and expressed his regret to the students, Energy Advisor Fawzul Kabir Khan and Environment Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan met with an 11-member delegation of protesting students tonight. After the meeting, Fawzul Kabir said, “What happened to the students is undesirable. The police representative will apologize for it.”
Fawzul Kabir Khan said that the government’s door is open for discussions, adding, “The journey towards the Jamuna is undesirable.”
