C T Online Desk: Fifteen activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League are in critical condition after allegedly being thrown from a six-storey building during a clash with quota reform protesters in Chittagong.
The injured are receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) at Chittagong Medical College Hospital and Parkview Hospital, according to hospital sources on Wednesday evening.
Among the injured, Sudipta Paul is in the ICU at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, while Mehedi Hasan, Jalal Uddin Mohammad Jubayer, Md Alamgir Hossain, Md Sohel, and Srabon are in the ICU at Parkview Hospital.
Doctors said that the conditions of Jalal and Alamgir are particularly critical.
Police and party leaders said that the 15 injured individuals, including the six in ICU, are affiliated with the Chhatra League and Jubo League.
They are followers of Nurul Azim Rony, the former general secretary of the Chittagong Metropolitan unit of Chhatra League and a current member of the Awami League’s Youth Sports Sub-Committee.
Nurul Azim Rony claimed that the activists were seriously injured when quota protesters threw them from the roof of a six-storey building in the Muradpur area on Tuesday afternoon.
He alleged that the protesters, who he claimed included BNP-Jamaat supporters, attacked the activists without provocation, forcing them to seek refuge on the roof before being thrown off.
“The quota reform protesters attacked them without any reason. Twenty workers took shelter on the roof of a six-storey building to escape them. In the guise of protesters, the BNP-Jamaat men beat them mercilessly like snakes and threw them from the sixth floor. On information, members of the Red Crescent Society rescued 15 of our workers from there and admitted them to the hospitals,” he added.
More than 80 injured students and Chhatra League activists received treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said Brigadier General Md Taslim Uddin, director of the hospital.
“The names of 71 people have been registered. Of them, 11 remain under treatment, with one in the ICU, two in the casualty department, two in neurosurgery, three in orthopedic surgery and traumatology, and three in other wards,” he added.
Meanwhile, the mother of one of the injured Emon Dhar filed a case with Panchlaish police station on Wednesday morning. A total of 150 unidentified people were made accused in the case.
Sumi Dhar said: “My son is involved in Chhatra League politics. Fifteen people, including him, were thrown from the roof.”
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Md Saiful Islam said he visited the site on Wednesday morning. “Those involved in the incident will be identified and brought under the law after watching the CCTV footage of the incident.”
On Tuesday, 15 Chhatra League activists were reportedly thrown from a six-storey building.
The incident took place in the Muradpur area of the city, with the clash lasting till 6:30pm.
According to sources, around 5pm, the protestors severely beat up Chhatra League leaders and activists who had taken shelter on the roof of the six-storey building.
However, they were beaten even on the roof. Some activists went climbing down the building’s pipe to escape but were beaten and fell. Others were allegedly thrown from the sixth floor.
Witness Mizanur Rahman said: “At around 3:30pm, Chhatra League leaders and activists came to Muradpur in a procession from Sholoshahar station. At that time, the protestors were protesting in Muradpur. There was a clash, and the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells. One side threw bricks at the other. Meanwhile, the Chhatra League activists dispersed, and the protestors attacked them wherever they could.”
He also said: “At that time, at least 20 leaders and activists of Chhatra League took shelter on the roof of a building named Mir Manzil at Muradpur intersection. They threw bricks at the protesters from there. The protestors also threw stones at them from below. At one point, the Chhatra League activists on the roof ran out of stones. By then, the Muradpur intersection had come under the control of the protesting students. They went to the roof and beat the Chhatra League leaders and activists with sticks. The activists went down the building’s pipe to save their lives. By then, at least a few were beaten and thrown from the roof, while the rest went down and fell.”
