BCL activists push principal into a pond

A group of Chhatra League men dragged the principal of Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute and pushed him into a pond on the campus yesterday.

The teacher, Farid Uddin Ahmed, said the BCL men were furious as he did not “accept one of their illogical demands”.

Talking to some reporters, he said the youths, led by the institute unit BCL Joint Secretary Kamal Hossain Saurav, intercepted his way near a pond when he was walking towards his office around 2:00pm.

“Saurav said he wanted to talk to me. At one point, the students started dragging me to the pond and then pushed me there,” he said, adding, “I would have died if I had not known how to swim.”

The footage of a CCTV in the area shows some nine to 10 youths dragging the teacher by his hands and neck and then pushing him into the waterbody.

The principal said the BCL men in the university often go to him with “illogical demands”.

He said the institute authorities had recently decided not to allow two students to take examinations as their attendance was poor. Saurav had been asking Farid to change the decision, which he did not agree to.

Golam Mostafa, OC of Chandrima police station in the city, said the principal was targeted as he did not listen to the BCL men.

He said the teacher filed a case against 57 people, including seven Chhatra League men, with the police station over the incident.

“We have identified the students who attacked the principal. We’re trying to arrest them,” he said.  

Last night, police raided several student accommodations near the campus and took at least 25 students to the police station for interrogation.  

Contacted, Mehedi Hasan, president of the BCL unit, said one of those who dragged the teachers was a Chhatra League man.

Asked about Saurav, he admitted Saurav was present when the incident happened. ”I don’t know about the others.”

“We will take organisational actions against Saurav. If any other Chhatra League man is found involved, the person will also face action,” he added.