Students of Cumilla University (CoU) have been accused of beating two police members and a police source after an incident in which two students were searched in Cumilla city.
The incident took place at around 7:30pm on Thursday (5 November) near the Police Lines and Government Women’s College area of Cumilla city.
The three men held were Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Shyamal Saha of Cumilla Kotwali Model police station, Constable Hanif and police source Zahid.
The two students who were searched are Siam and Arpo, 2023-24 session students of the university’s statistics department.
According to university sources, the two students were waiting for a university bus in a lane in the Racecourse area after a tutoring session on Thursday evening. Three men blocked their way and searched them. When the students asked to see their identity cards, the men could not show them.
ASI Shyamal Saha alleged that the students forced them onto the university bus and beat them all the way to the campus, where they were beaten again. Several videos of the incident have spread on social media.
Shyamal Saha said they had only asked the two students who they were. Once the students said they were from the university, they were let go and the police expressed regret. When the students then asked for their identity cards, they were shown a walkie-talkie and handcuffs, and the students were also told they could contact the officers on duty to confirm their identity.
The students later took the three men to the university proctor’s office. There, both sides were heard in the presence of the university administration, the police administration, teachers, students and journalists.
The university’s proctor, Professor Dr Mohammad Shahadat Hossain, said the students had been approached by an ASI and a constable of Kotwali police station and a police source. They had tried to search the students, and when the students asked to see their identity cards, they could not show them. The police station concerned has also acknowledged this, he said.
He said this led to an argument between the two sides, after which the students forcibly brought the men to the campus. Rather than bringing anyone in this way, the students should have informed the authorities concerned or the university administration, the proctor said.
He added that the police members should also have carried their identity cards. Both sides fell short, and the matter has since been resolved, he said.
Mostayin Billah Ferdous, assistant superintendent of police (Sadar South Circle), said: “The matter could have been settled from the spot by calling the police station or the national emergency number 999. Bringing police members to the campus on a bus is in no way acceptable.”
He added: “Since 5 August there has been a lingering mob culture. We have to get out of it.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report