The vandalism at the residence of the Dhaka University vice-chancellor (VC), Prof Md. Akhtaruzzaman, by unidentified miscreants on Sunday has left his family and the academic community shocked. DU teachers described the unprecedented attack as deliberate and pre-planned.

The incident took place on the early hours of Sunday when only the VC, his wife, son and daughter were in the two-storey building. Recounting the incident, the VC’s family said the miscreants had wreaked havoc in each of the 15 rooms of the building by smashing doors, windows, tables, cots, TV sets, refrigerators, air conditioners, almirahs, tube lights, bulbs, ceiling fans, and even kitchen and bathroom fittings. The vandals also burned chairs, tables, other valuable furniture, and two vehicles as well as looted valuable items kept in the almirahs and other places.

They even broke a glass-framed photo of the VC’s late mother, Kiran Bhanu, on his reading table. Speaking to The Independent yesterday, the VC’s wife, Salma Zaman, said a group of people had met the VC at his residence at 7 pm. They complained against police firing teargas shells and beating students agitating against the quota system. They asked him to intervene to stop the police action.

After they left, the VC started calling different people in the university to know about the condition of the students, she added. “Then around 1 am, a large group forcibly broke the door and entered the building. I told my husband that we should leave. But he said no. He assured me that the matter was related to the quota system, and not to the university. He said the intruders will leave after he explained it to them,” she said.

“When they were breaking the door, I told my husband to call law enforcers. But he refused to do so, fearing that if law enforcers were called, bodies will fall on the campus. I cannot accept that police will fire and my students will die, he told me,” she said.

“More than a hundred people came upstairs. The VC tried to control them. We then ran for safety and hid ourselves. My husband and son were on the second floor. I could hear angry shouts and sounds of vandalism and fire,” she added.

Salma said the incident continued from 1 am till 3.30 am. “We were praying to the Almighty for our safety as my daughter was with me. We did not know whether my husband and son were alive,” she said. “We don’t know the reason for the violence. It has no connection with the university. The miscreants were outsiders and not DU students,” she added.

Badiul Alam, DU’s deputy assistant engineer, who assessed the magnitude of damage, said no furniture and thing was spared. “There was a British-era table in the conference room on the ground floor. It has been smashed and burned. Besides, different crests and other medals kept in the almirahs were looted,” he added.

There were five security guards on Sunday, but they fled the scene when the attack started. Hasan, a security guard, said the miscreants came with sticks, rods and machetes. “They slapped me and told me to leave the scene,” he added.

The two-story historic building is now in a shambles. Relatives and teachers visited the family yesterday to console them and supply cooked food as the kitchen was also vandalised.

The visitors said such vandalism could not have been carried out by human beings and the attackers were “monsters”.