Staff Reporter:
A major clash erupted in Sylhet district on Friday afternoon between police and students protesting deaths in the recent quota reform movement, with the crowd supporting students growing steadily in the protest sites.
Clashes were continuing during the filing of this report at 6.30pm, turning a nearly two-kilometre area into a battleground. Many non-students were actively joining the protest, this correspondent learnt.
Over 50, including police, reporters, pedestrians and students, were injured in the clash, and police detained eight students from the spot.
Police alleged that students started the clash by throwing brickbats at them, after officers repeatedly asked them to leave the Akhalia area and stop the blockade on the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway.
Sylhet City Police Deputy Azbahar Ali Sheikh said that police managed to repel an “unprovoked attack on them.”
Students alleged that they moved to a different spot after police asked them to move away from their first gathering site in front of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) at 3.30pm. They were trying to head towards Sylhet city.
Later, as students moved to Akhalia area, police tried to stop them and dispersed them by firing tear shells as well as shotgun pellets, the students claimed.
The students divided into different groups and started throwing brick chips at the police personnel from different alleys and roads.
Students also challenged police with sticks and other local weapons when officers tried to chase them.
