A student of Rangpur's Begum Rokeya University was killed during a clash between police and protesters seeking quota reform on the campus.

The deceased was identified as Abu Sayed, 25, a student of English Department of the university and one of the organisers of the quota reform movement. 

Md Moniruzzaman, Commissioner of Rangpur Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star "A student was killed but we are yet to know how he was killed."

Eunus Ali, director of Rangpur Medical College Hospital, said a student was brought dead to the hospital.

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"I did not see the body but doctors at the emergency unit told me that he suffered rubber bullet injuries," he told The Daily Star.

The director said 15 other students were rushed to the hospital with injuries but he could not talk in detail about their injuries.

Commissioner Moniruzzaman said a group of students were demonstrating on the campus where students from nearby education institutions started joining in around 2:30pm. 

The protestors suddenly attacked the police stationed nearby, injuring several members and damaging their vehicles. A clash took place as police retaliated, he said. 

Tuhin Wadud, a teacher of the university who visited Rangpur Medical College Hospital where Abu Sayed was taken, said the student's body was covered in shotgun pellet wounds.

Eyewitness said that at 2:30pm, a procession of protesting students from Lalbagh area reached Begum Rokeya University, where a clash occurred with the police.

Abu Sayed was injured when the police fired shotguns. He was taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

Habib Ahsan, a university student, said, "As we marched through various streets in the city, the police stopped us in front of the university's gate number-1.

"At that moment, a clash broke out between the police and the students, and police fired rubber bullets against us. Abu Sayed was hit then."

"He was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead," he added.

"When we were taking Sayed's body from the hospital to the campus, the police forcibly took the body from us near the police lines," he added. 

Speaking anonymously, a student who took Sayed to the hospital, said, "Police were firing rubber bullets and tear gas shells at us, and Abu Sayed was hit in the chest."

"He fell unconscious on the street. The students then took him to the hospital in a battery-run rickshaw. I tried to talk to him, but he did not speak." he added. 

This newspaper found video clips of the incident, showing Abu Sayed standing alone in front of the police with a stick, while bricks were being thrown at him.

Later, he lay down on the road, and other students rescued him and took him a short distance away.