10 injured as students, police clash in Bangladesh

Dhaka, July 2 (IANS) At least 10 people, including four police personnel, were injured in a violent clash between police and members of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) outside the Patiya Police Station in Chittagong's Patiya sub-district, according to local media reports.

The violence broke out around 9 p.m. on Tuesday local time, after SAD activists allegedly detained a leader of the ruling party's student wing, the Chhatra League (CL), near the central Shaheed Minar.

Tensions quickly escalated when the activists brought the individual to the police station, demanding action.

Police officials said the SAD members attempted to create chaos inside the station premises. This reportedly forced police to intervene, resulting in a physical altercation, Bangladesh's leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported on Wednesday.

In response to the police action, SAD launched a protest movement dubbed the "Patiya Blockade" on Wednesday morning, bringing more unrest to the area.

Officer-in-charge of Patiya Police Station, Zayed Nur, told local media, "They came to the police station with a procession and beat the banned Chhatra League leader inside the police station. Later, police took him into custody. At one point during the argument, with instigating slogans against the police, they locked into scuffles with cops, and police later drove them out of the police station."

Nur confirmed that a general diary (GD) had been filed regarding the incident and mentioned that four police personnel were injured in the confrontation.

On the other side, SAD accused police of using excessive force. Speaking to reporters, Rizwan Siddiqqui, joint convener of the Chattogram metropolitan unit of SAD, said, "Upon hearing the news, I went to the scene in Patiya. Our activists were beaten with batons by the police. Several of my brothers had to be taken to the hospital for primary treatment."

He added that six SAD leaders were injured during the first clash. Another altercation reportedly took place around 11:30 p.m., during which Siddiqqui claimed nine more activists were hurt.

While media reports noted that efforts were made to reach Officer Nur for an official statement on the Wednesday morning blockade, he remained unreachable at that time.

However, in prior comments to local news outlets, he reiterated that SAD members had tried to storm the police station and physically assaulted the detained CL leader, prompting the police to respond.

Local media outlet Prothom Alo also reported that police did not initially intend to arrest the Chhatra League leader, as there was no formal case against him.

However, rising tensions forced police to take him into custody, which then sparked the violent scenes that followed.

--IANS

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