Quota Reform Movement: HSC student dies at Dhanmondi in clash with police, ruling party's men
Staff Correspondent
A student from higher secondary level (HSC) died during clashes with police and government supporters at Dhanmondi’s old 27 no road in the capital on Thursday.
Farhanul Islam Bhuiyan, 17, was all set to sit for HSC exams next year as a student of Residential Model College, but his journey was cut short as he joined protests against the 56% quota system in government jobs and attacks on students protesting the system.
He was declared dead at 3.30pm while undergoing treatment for bullet injuries to his head and chest at City Hospital in Mohammadpur. A number of other protesting students have been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital, hospital sources claimed. One local claimed police helped evacuate two critically injured students from the spot.
Clashes started at 11am when students from different educational institutions in Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur started gathering beside Rapa Plaza at the old 27 no road to block the Mirpur Road and press home their demands. Helmet-wearing youths as well as members of groups allied with the ruling party started converging on the same spot from different points to disperse the protesters.
Chases and counter-chases ensued as police also joined the fight against the protesting students. The clashes continued till 1.30pm, when people allied with the ruling party took control of the area. There were allegations that the ruling party hired "professional street fighters" from the Bihari camps in Mohammadpur.
