Police charged baton and used water cannon to foil a pre-scheduled protest by dental students off the government secretariat Wednesday, leaving around 30 injured, witnesses said.
They said 15 of the protesters, including move-convener Sarwar Hossain Bhuiyan, were pickled up during the troubles for their alleged involvement in unruly activities and "obstructing police duty".
Earlier, the students had announced their plan to lay a siege to the Ministry of Health to realise a four-point demands related to curriculum and job.
Their demands include 'practice registration' for the students who graduated from the Institutes of Health Technology under the University of Dhaka, the University of Rajshahi and the University of Chittagong.
Other demands are immediate approval for students' enrolment with these institutes, keeping the existing schooling curriculum untouched and ad-hoc basis employment of the dental graduates.
Ramem Hasan, one of the students who staged the aborted demonstrations, alleged that the police "attacked" their peaceful procession heading toward the secretariat building beside the National Press Club to submit a memorandum over their demands at about 11:30am.
However, Ramna Zone Assistant Commissioner Shibli Nomani told journalists that they resorted to a mild baton charge and used water cannon to disperse the protesters as they were "violating the law".
The protesting students also announced a mass gathering for December 24 at Shahabag intersection unless the government fulfilled their demands in the meantime.
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Water cannon used to quell dental students\\\' protest
FE Report | Published: December 18, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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