Staff Reporter:
A student of the Department of Philosophy at Dhaka University (DU) was allegedly beaten several times and later handed over to Shahbagh Police Station on accusations of having links with the banned organi-zation Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of Awami League.
The victim, Rahid Khan Pavel, a student from the 2020–21 academic session, is currently receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital under police supervision.
The incident reportedly took place during the pre-dawn meal (sehri) early Monday morning.
Those accused in the incident include Hasibul Islam, an organizational secretary of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and a student of the Sociology Department at DU; Sardar Nadim Mahmud Shuvo, a Philosophy Department student from the same session; and Mohammad Saifullah, organizational secretary of Jatiya Chhatra Shakti.
According to eyewitness students, Pavel went to the BUET canteen to have sehri when several student activists, including Hasibul Islam, called him over and engaged him in an argument over issues such as the alleged rehabilitation of Chhatra League, an iftar party reportedly organized on campus with BCL backing, and the recent playing of the March 7 speech on campus.
The argument reportedly escalated into a scuffle.
Later, Pavel was taken from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) campus to the Dhaka University campus, where he was allegedly beaten multiple times before being handed over to Shahbagh Police Station. Police later admitted him to the hospital.
