Violence engulfed parts of Old Dhaka yesterday as students from over a dozen colleges attacked Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College in what they said was a retaliatory move.

They vandalised at least six vehicles at Suhrawardy College and tried to attack Kabi Nazrul Government College but failed to enter the campus.

At least 30 people were injured amid a chase and counter-chase between two groups hurling brick chunks at each other.

The protesters also attacked Dhaka National Medical College Hospital, where Mollah College student Avijit died on November 18 due to alleged negligence. The demonstrators vandalised the gate and glasses of the hospital.

The students were protesting against an alleged attack on their peers from Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College by students of Suhrawardy and Kabi Nazrul colleges during a demonstration on November 21 over Avijit's death.

Photo: Collected

This correspondent witnessed that several thousand students, including from Mollah College, Dhaka College, City College and Notre Dame College, gathered in front of the hospital again at yesterday noon, protesting the death of Avijit.

The gathering stretched to Kabi Nazrul College. At one stage, the protesting students tried to break into the college but could not.

The protesters attacked Suhrawardy College after a small group of students of the college tried to chase the demonstrators away from outside Kabi Nazrul College around 1:00pm.

Students from different colleges approaching Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College in Old Dhaka during protests against an alleged attack on their peers from Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College at Jatrabari. They vandalised office rooms and classrooms, and vehicles on the college compound. The photo was taken at Jatrabari intersection around 12:30pm yesterday. Photo: Prabir Das

Panic spread inside Suhrawardy College as honours first-year exams for the seven colleges affiliated with Dhaka University were ongoing there.

The protesters vandalised three motorcycles, a car, a microbus, and an ambulance parked on the college campus.

They damaged the office and classrooms during the rampage until around 5:00pm.

Talking to The Daily Star, a Mollah College student said at that time, "The students of the two colleges [Suhrwardy and Kabi Nazrul] attacked us. We will give them a befitting reply."

As the protesting students left the area around 5:30pm, the students of Kabi Nazrul and Suhrawardy colleges attacked St Gregory's High School & College, witnesses said. The assailants damaged the institution's entrance, suspecting its students joined the attack on Suhrawardy College.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Suhrawardy College Principal Prof Kakali Mukhopadhyay alleged that the local authorities did not cooperate to protect the college.

"Before we could apprehend anything, we saw on CCTV that a lot of boys and girls had come. They broke the gate and vandalised everything at will," she said.

"They released the gas line. Can real students be so violent?"

Md Jasim Uddin, Lalbagh Division deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the hospital authorities formed a probe committee over Avijit's death.

They assured the protesters of taking disciplinary action if any negligence was found, but the students continued the protests, he said.

SUHRAWARDY ANNOUNCES CLOSURE

Later in the evening, students of Suhrawardy College announced an indefinite closure of the institution, demanding the immediate identification and exemplary punishment of those involved in the attack on the institution.

They also threatened to disaffiliate Mollah College if their demands were not met.

Anti-Discrimination Student Movement leaders of Suhrawardy College made the announcement at a press conference held on the college premises.

Speaking on behalf of the students, Likhon Islam claimed Suhrawardy College suffered damage worth approximately Tk 10 crore in the attack.

"Dr Mahbubur Rahman Molla College and other involved colleges must bear the responsibility for this compensation."

Likhon also said a peaceful settlement of the issue can be reached if representatives of students and teachers from Mollah College and other institutions apologise to Suhrawardy College students and teachers on the campus.

Mehedi Hasan, a student of Kabi Nazrul College, stated that the organisers of the protests against the Old Dhaka institutions must be investigated and brought to justice.

They called a protest march from 10:00am on Monday to condemn the attack, vandalism, and looting at Shahrawardy College.