Miscreants hurling brick chips at agitating students at Zigatola in the city on Saturday — Collected FE Report
The seventh day of the ongoing student protest over road safety ended on Saturday with reported attacks on the protesters, road blocking and policing delinquent drivers.
Beginning in the morning, students of different schools and colleges like the other days started pouring into the streets and blockading roads chanting slogans in favour of their demands aimed at road discipline.
Fearing trouble and insecurity, transport owners and workers also continued their undeclared strike for the third straight day to avert any faceoff with the protesters.
The major incident of violence was reported at Jhigatola in the city where a group of unidentified youths with bamboo sticks attacked the demonstrators in the afternoon.
The protesting students retaliated hurling brick chips and stones that led chase and counter-chase among them. Several people were injured in the clashes.
Tensions were running high in the area until filing the report at about 7:30pm.
The road blockade was reported at Mirpur-10, Dhanmondi, Shahbagh, Farmgate and Uttara where students were seen policing delinquent drivers.
The demonstrators at some places were found making human lanes and forcing vehicles to pass through them.
At the Science Lab intersection, the protesting students stopped the vehicle of the Chief of Bangladesh Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) in the morning and found the licence of his driver expired.
Later, they let the vehicle drive on after traffic police filed a case against the driver for violating traffic rules.
The blockade brought almost to a complete halt the vehicular movement, resulting in immense sufferings caused to the commuters, especially for the officer-goers.
Bus stoppages were seen packed with people waiting for long to avail transports as the number of buses was quite low.
Many of the commuters were also seen travelling by rickshaws and pickup vans to reach their respective destinations.
Earlier on the day, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTA) Chairman Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan handed over five buses to the authorities of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College.
The buses were given on behalf of the Prime Minister, which was one of the nine demands of the agitating students.
However, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) announced observance of traffic week from today (Sunday) with strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations in the city.
At an emergency press briefing, DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia disclosed it.
They will enforce traffic rules not only for vehicles but also for jaywalkers.
Expressing solidarity with the peaceful student movement, the DMP chief thanked the students for rekindling the morality of the force with their initiative to maintain traffic rules.
Calling upon the students to go back home and to classrooms, he said the government is very serious to implement their logical demands and some of them already implemented.
Citing an intelligence report, the police commissioner expressed his concern over the safety and security of the students and common people as a vested group intruded the groups of peaceful protesters wearing school uniforms.
To capitalise on the movement, the group attacked vehicles, policemen, police station and even Razarbagh police lines, according to him.
"But even amid such instigation, police are carrying out their duties and responsibilities peacefully with sincerity and patience," he added.
Two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were killed and several others injured when a bus of Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan ran over them on Airport Road on July 29 last.
The tragic accident triggered the mass student protest throughout the country.
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