Latest political news of Bangladesh

2 cars set ablaze, 25 others vandalised as learner driver critically injures student on campus

Angry students of Dhaka University torched two cars and vandalised 25 others after a trainee driver hit a student of the university on the campus yesterday afternoon.
To contain the situation, police stopped vehicular movement on the campus for six hours triggering more-than-usual heavy traffic in Dhaka.
Injured Sadhan Kumar Ghosh, a forth-year student of psychology department and a resident of Jagannath Hall, was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors said he was out of danger and did not have any severe injuries.
Police arrested student driver Rubaiya Haque of Dhaka City College and three others who were in the car. They also rounded up two students in connection with vandalism after the incident.
DU Proctor KM Saiful Islam Khan said Rubaiya with her driver next to her and two classmates in the back seat hit Sadhan near his dorm around 12:30pm.
Mohan Das, who witnessed the accident, said Sadhan was walking along the edge of the road near the rear entrance of his dorm when the car hit him from behind.
Following the accident, Rubaiya and her classmates got down and with the help of bystanders sent Sadhan to DMCH in the very car with her driver driving, witnesses said.
Hearing the news, a group of students from Jagannath Hall rushed to DMCH and torched the car parked in front of the emergency department.
The protesters, mainly from Jagannath Hall, took to the streets and started venting their anger on mostly cars and microbuses.
Another group of students started vandalism in front of the Central Shaheed Minar and Teacher-Student Centre spreading panic on the campus.
Police at one stage charged truncheons near the Shaheed Minar to prevent agitators from ransacking vehicles. Officer-in-Charge of Shahbagh Police Station Rezaul Karim however said they just chased the protesters to disperse them.
Some protesters brought out a procession near TSC around 4:00pm demanding punishment of the people responsible for the accident and imposing a ban on movement of vehicles on the campus.
Students burned another car in front of Jagannath Hall around 4:30pm.
Alongside members of DU administration and police, some DU unit leaders of pro-Awami League student body Bangladesh Chhatra League were seen on the streets trying to calm the agitators down. They forced students back into their dormitories several times but the protesters returned after a while.
Movement of vehicles was halted for six hours on the campus streets as the students continued vandalism in phases until 6:00pm.
The angry students also harassed several photojournalists of dailies and cameramen of television channels when they went to take photographs and footage of the vandalism. In the evening, they harassed bike riders and pedestrians around TSC, witnesses said.
Shahbagh police picked up DU students Mohammad Sabbir, of institute of education and research, and Nazmul Huda, of hotel management and tourism department, in connection with vandalism.
DU Proctor Saiful said learning to drive on campus is strictly prohibited but people do it. "We catch around 15 cars almost every day on campus for driving training cars secretly," he added.
He said a case would be filed against the female student and others responsible for the accident.
Later, police released all the detainees except the driver of the car, Abdul Mannan, sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station, told The Daily Star last night.
On June 22, 2009 Anima Rani Saha, wife of DU Prof Porimol Kumar Saha of institute of education and research, died when a training car hit her from the back near Jagannath Hall.