A student was hacked to death and three were injured in a clash between rival factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists over a farewell programme at a private university in Chittagong yesterday. The incident took place on the Wasa circle campus of Premier University, police said. The deceased was identified as Nasim Ahmed Sohal (25), an MBA student of the university. The injured students—Notonshil Rony (25), Imtiaz Ahmed Sabbir (24) and Subashis Chakrabarty (25)—are undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
“The university has been shut down for an indefinite period. A student was killed due to infighting between two rival groups over arranging a farewell programme. Some outsiders attacked the students and also vandalised the campus,” Premier University vice-chancellor Dr Anupam Sen said.
According to insiders, there was an ongoing conflict between two groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) students over choosing the chief guest for the farewell programme for BBA graduates on March 31. While one group owed allegiance to the former mayor of Chittagong, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the other was the follower of the present mayor, AJN Nasir Uddin. Chowdhury’s followers wanted him as chief guest, but their rivals had invited the vice-chancellor for the same. This had triggered tension between the two groups. On March 13, students owing allegiance to Chowdhury had attacked members of the rival faction. A general diary was lodged against the incident at Chawkbazar police station on March 20. Three students of the university—Tanim, Mesbah and Mostafa—were named as accused. “Yesterday, a group of people armed with weapons burst into the room where were rehearsing for the programme and attacked us around 11.30 am. Four of our friends were injured in the attack. We took them to CMCH, but the doctors declared Sohal dead,” said the deceased’s friends. As news of the death spread on the Wasa and Probortok circle campuses of the varsity, students took to the streets and vandalised many vehicles. They  also put up barricades on the roads for around five hours. Traffic movement of the whole city was paralysed due to the barricade. Panic also gripped the commuters in several areas including Probortok, Gol Phar, GEC circle, Gate No.2, CMCH, Wasa circle, and Kazirdewari as rival students resorted to chase and counter-chase in these areas.  The mayor visited the spot and assured the students of justice. The agitators finally lifted the blockade around 6.30 pm.