Police pick up students at night, teachers bring them out at noon

The police had picked up three students, including a job seeker, during a drive in a mess in Sylhet in the dead of night on Wednesday.

Learning about the incident, five teachers of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) went to the police station and brought them back on Thursday afternoon.

In a separate incident, the police detained an HSC examinee when he, along with other students, attempted to gather in the city to protest in the afternoon.

RAID IN MESS

It was learned that the police conducted a drive in a mess at the Niharipara area near the university at night and took the three students to the Kotwali police station.

They are Monir Hossain, a former student of the SUST’s public administration department; Sohag, a student from the university’s department of civil and environmental engineering (2017-18); and Anas Mia, a student of the zoology department of MC College.

The SUST teachers went to the police station around 12:30 pm on Thursday. After around two hours of negotiation with the officer-in-charge (OC), the students were set free on bond.

The teachers are Professor Ashraf Uddin, Professor Saiful Islam, Professor Mozammel Haque, Professor Shah Atiqul Haque, and Professor Khalidur Rahman.

Speaking to Journalist, Professor Ashraf Uddin said they came to know around 11:00 am that three students were detained as suspects. “They were exploring legal processes. However, when we talked to the OC, he agreed to release them under our responsibility. The students are now safe.”

OC Moin Uddin said the students were found in a locked room and were brought in for questioning as suspects.

“We had received information that some accused were staying in the mess. When we went there at night, some of the students opened doors, but some others were staying inside a room which was locked from the outside. They opened the room after one and a half hours and we took three of them to the police station as suspects,” he said, adding they were released under the teachers’ responsibility.

Mamunur Rashid, a student of the mess-under-raid, said the police went to the mess around 3:30 am and searched all the rooms. They also asked the students about their political affiliations and checked their mobile phones.

“They took away three students. They also tried to pick me, but spared me at one point when I told them that I am an examinee,” he said.

HSC EXAMINEE DETAINED

The police detained an HSC examinee – Saidur Miya, 17, a student of Burunga Iqbal Ahmed High School and College – from the Kumargaon bus stand area around 3:30 pm on Thursday, during a protest.

According to witnesses, the protesting students tried to gather at the university’s main gate around 3:00 pm to hold their previously announced programme – Remembering Our Heroes. The police attempted to push them away, but the students continued to chant slogans in favour of their demands.

At one stage, the police chased them to the Kumargaon bus stand area and dispersed them. The examinee was detained from the spot.

Until the filing of this report around 4:30pm, the students were chanting slogans in the nearby Surma residential area, while the police took position in the Tapoban residential area.

Tahiyat Ahmed Chowdhury, deputy commissioner (detective branch) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police, said the detained student was attending the procession along with his friends. The OC of Jalalabad police station will decide on his release once his guardian arrives.