B'desh: University of Asia Pacific students attacked

A group of University of Asia Pacific students were assaulted by a group of motorcycle-borne men and vandalised their campus near Farmgate in Dhaka on Sunday.

As per eyewitnesses, the men, who are yet to be identified, attacked the students with sticks near the Ananda Cinema Hall in Farmgate at around 12:30 pm (local time), Prothom Alo reported.

On being chased by the men, the students, who were protesting along with the school students advocating for safer roads in Farmgate, took shelter in the campus of the University of Asia Pacific. The attackers then shattered the windows of the campus.

Later, the students claimed that the miscreants were members from Bangladesh Chhatra League's (BCL) Tejgaon College unit, according to The Dhaka Tribune.

For those unversed, two students of Dhaka's Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were killed when a speeding bus ploughed through a crowd on July 29. The bus was attempting to overtake another bus when the incident occurred.

Following this, a large number of students took to the streets of Dhaka, demanding improved road safety and stricter enforcement of traffic laws, bringing the city to a complete standstill.

The two students killed were identified as Abdul Karim Rajib (18) and Dia Khanam Mim (17).

Dozens of students have been injured by the police in clashes ever since the protests began, according to several media reports.

On a related note, as many as eight journalists were allegedly beaten up by activists of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party, while they were covering the demonstrations.