Students of Dhaka College and Ideal College clashed again in the capital on Thursday, barely a month and a half after their last confrontation, leaving a bus vandalised, at least one pedestrian injured and traffic disrupted along the busy Science Lab–New Market stretch.
The clash broke out around 11:30am near the Science Laboratory intersection in Dhaka, triggering chase and counter-chase between students of the two institutions. Police intervened with baton charges and fired tear gas shells to disperse the groups and push them back to their respective campuses.
Due to the violence, vehicular movement from Science Lab to New Market remained suspended for some time before returning to normal around noon.
Witnesses said 30 to 40 Dhaka College students initially assaulted several Ideal College students near Concord Tower on Green Road, sparking the confrontation. As the situation escalated, students from both sides chased each other on the road, causing panic among pedestrians and commuters.
During the clash, a Dhaka College bus named “Bijoy-24” was intercepted on Mirpur Road, taken in front of Ideal College and vandalised. The bus was later brought back to the Dhaka College campus.
A pedestrian was injured after being caught in the violence, while several police members sustained injuries after being hit by bricks allegedly thrown by students, police said.
New Market zone Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Md Shawkat Ali said police fired tear gas shells to bring the situation under control and chased students back into their campuses. “Traffic movement resumed after the situation stabilised,” he said.
New Market Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Ayub said the situation was brought under control by around noon. “Traffic also returned to normal. No one was injured in the incident,” he said, adding that the exact cause of the clash was yet to be determined.
Students from the two colleges, however, gave conflicting accounts of how the violence began. Dhaka College students claimed that their Class XI students were attacked while passing in front of Ideal College. Ideal College students, on the other hand, alleged that their students were assaulted while passing in front of Dhaka College.
Bijoy-24 bus driver Md Kabir Hossain said the bus was empty while returning from Mirpur when it was attacked near City College. “Several Ideal College students suddenly attacked the bus, smashing the windows. Some of them were heard saying, ‘What’s the problem if a government bus is vandalised? Break it,’” he alleged.
Dhaka College Vice-Principal Prof Parvin Sultana Haider claimed that Ideal College students attacked the bus after Dhaka College students were dropped off. She said a teacher later brought the bus back to the campus and that legal action would be taken over the incident.
She also alleged that Ideal College students had been positioning themselves in small groups since morning with the intention of attacking Dhaka College students.
The latest clash comes despite a verbal peace agreement reached between students of the two colleges on November 9 last year under the initiative of New Market police, in which both sides pledged to avoid any form of confrontation. However, the students clashed again on December 9, barely a month later.
