Students and teachers blocked a major highway in Rangpur on Tuesday night, protesting the arrest of a medical student in connection with the death of an HSC examinee who fell from the rooftop of a multi-storey building.
The blockade began around 7:30pm on the Rangpur-Dinajpur Highway in front of the central jail, disrupting traffic movement across at least five northern districts and halting road communication with other parts of the country.
Vehicular movement on routes linking Dhaka with Rangpur, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh remained suspended for hours.
Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the highway, causing severe hardship for passengers.
Later, students and teachers staged demonstrations in the Medical College area, alleging that the Detective Branch (DB) police arrested a medical student without proper and transparent investigation.
Protesters claimed the accused had previously provided private tutoring to the deceased student but later discontinued teaching her.
They further alleged that he was detained after visiting the Detective Branch office to learn about the matter and was subsequently shown arrested in the case.
They demanded his immediate release, warning that the blockade would continue until a fair and impartial investigation is ensured.
The incident originated from the death of Nujhat Jahan, an HSC examinee of Rangpur Cantonment Public School and College, who died on Monday evening after falling from the rooftop of North View Hotel in Rangpur city.
Following the incident, her father Nazrul Islam filed a case at Kotwali Police Station, naming the arrested medical student and several others as accused.
However, the Rangpur Metropolitan Police Detective Branch said the arrest was made based on specific intelligence information. Police added that the accused was later formally shown arrested in the case and sent to jail through a court order.
