Abrar Fahad A student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was allegedly beaten to death by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders and activists on the university campus early Monday.
After being informed by the hall authorities, the police recovered the body of Abrar Fahad, a second year student of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) Department, from in front of Sher-e-Bangla Hall, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Lalbagh Division Kamal Hossain said.
Some ten BUET students including six BCL leaders were detained and taken into police custody in connection with the killing, Krishna Pada Roy, Additional Deputy Commissioner (crime) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told reporters on the BUET campus on Monday evening.
Detained students include BCL BUET unit general secretary Mehedi Hasan Rasel, its joint general secretary Muhtasim Fuad, information and research affairs secretary Anik Sarkar, sports secretary Meftahul Islam Xion, organizing secretary Mehedi Hasan Robin, publication secretary Ishtiak Munna, 16th batch student of Mechanical Engineering Department Tanvirul Abedin Ethan and Jisan.
Meanwhile, Abrar's father Barakat Ullah lodged a case against 19 persons with Chawkbazar Police Station, its Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Shohrab Hossain told the FE.
The incident sparked massive protests among the students of BUET, Dhaka University (DU) and other educational institutions in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.
BUET students bringing out a procession in protest against the killing of their fellow student Abrar Fahad on the Dhaka University campus in the city on Monday — FE photo
Several hundred students of BUET staged demonstrations and laid siege to the offices of the vice-chancellor (VC) and the hall provost on Monday evening, demanding release of full CCTV footage of the killing incident to identify the culprits for bringing them to justice.
More than a hundred students of Dhaka University (DU) brought out a protest rally from Raju Sculpture and marched to the BUET campus. DU Central Students' Union (DUCSU) vice president Nurul Huq Nur also took part in the procession.
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of BNP, brought out a rally on the DU campus, protesting the killing incident.
As protests spread outside the campus, the student wing of the ruling Awami League held an emergency press briefing at Madhur Canteen on the DU campus.
At the press briefing, BCL's acting vice president Al Nahian Khan Joy said they will take action if the party activists are found guilty of murder of the meritorious student.
To probe the incident, the BCL formed a two-member committee comprising Yaj al Riad, vice president and Asif Taukder, literature affairs secretary of the central committee.
The committee was asked to submit report within 24 hours.
Abrar Fahad died of "internal bleeding and excessive pain" as he was badly beaten up by blunt objects such as cricket stumps or bamboo sticks, doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital said following his autopsy.
According to sources, Abrar posted a status on his social media about the topic of Bangladesh-India agreement on Feni River on October 5. Later, BCL leaders blamed him for having affiliation to Chhatra Shibir, called him to room no 2011 and beat him up mercilessly.
Ashikul Islam Bitu, assistant secretary of BCL BUET unit said, "Abrar was called from room no 2011 of the hall at 8:00pm on Sunday after branding him a Shibir activist. We checked his Facebook and messenger and found evidence that he follows and likes some controversial pages. Evidence of his association with Shibir was also found."
After getting some proofs of his involvement with Shibir, some fourth year students were asked to come to the room, the BCL man added.
After that BUET BCL sports secretary Meftahul Islam Xion, and information and research secretary Anik Sharkar came to the spot, Bitu added.
"At one stage, I left the room. May be, they beat him up after that. Later around 3:00am, I heard Abrar died," Bitu said.
"Students of the hall called me around 3:00 am. I went to the hall and saw the body near the stairs. By then, he was dead. There were injury marks all over his body," Buet's physician Dr Mashuk Elahi told the reporters.
Abrar's family denied the allegation brought against Abrar. His father Barakat Ullah, an official of a NGO, told the media that all of their family members are the supporters of Awami League.However, the BUET VC couldn't be reached for his comments about the incident.
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