Student riot continues in Dhaka

Violent student riots continues for the second day in Bangladesh. At least 15 students have been injured. They have set the deadline for withdrawing the army camp at Dhaka University till Wednesday.

Drishtipat reports:

* Police fired teargas Tuesday to quell protests that spilled into its second day amid a strike at Dhaka University as more than 1,000 angry students marched through the troubled campus.
* Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) has thrown their weight behind the students demanding army pullout from the campus

* Protests spilled over into other institutions including the Jahangirnagar University, as students boycotted class and put up barricades on Dhaka-Aricha highway for a while. They smashed several passing vehicles on the highway and briefly clashed with police.

*The protests are the first major defiance of the restrictions clamped under the emergency rules.

E-Bangladesh correspondent reports from Dhaka:

# 3:15PM All entry points to Dhaka University blocked by the police. Paramilitary BDR convoys sighted.
# 3:30PM Unidentified men, believed to be intelligence operators, beaten up by agitating students near Dhaka University mosque for video-taping a procession.
# 5:30PM Riot spreads to New Market and Dhaka College. Streets turn into battlezones. E-Bangladesh correspondent watches injured policemen receiving first-aid.

Meanwhile BDNews24 reports that:

The army man who allegedly assaulted and verbally abused a Dhaka University student has been withdrawn from the camp on the campus. In a statement Tuesday, the Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate said a probe opened into the army man's role in the incident. The army personnel, who is yet to be officially named, triggered a spell of violence that injured about 200 students and other people in two days.

Breaking News: BDNews24 reports that:

The government Tuesday decided to withdraw troops from the Dhaka University campus, a day after a spell of violence left about 200 people, mostly students, injured. Meanwhile, angry Dhaka University students demanded a public apology from army chief Moeen U Ahmed for what they said was an unwarranted incident on the campus. General Moeen has been set a deadline to apologise to the students by Wednesday noon.

A moral victory for the students. There was also a report that a group of people attacked the students. Some say that they were a faction of the political wings of Awami League and BNP because the students did not want to politicize the protests. This is a very significant development if it is true.

More update!The situation is still volatile. Science Laboratory Police Box in Dhaka was in flames. Reports from Bangladesh via comment section of Drishtipat Blog:

9pm in Dhaka. Police clash with students at Nilkhet.

Now we are hearing reports on “5 point” demand given by students. What I heard so far:

*Immediately remove all army presence from every national campus
*Moeen U Ahmed personally apologizes by 12 noon
*Return environment for democracy to country

CSB reporting new tear gas attack in Nilkhet right now. Area completely deadlocked, running fights. All cameras blocked off, CSB reporter reporting via mobile phones.

No video or still cameras being allowed.

Students not being allowed to leave the campus. They are blocked inside the campus. Many students leave campus to eat, now they cannot. Campus was open until 7pm, and then blockade began.

A friend just reported pitched battle on Sat Masjid Road all along Dhanmondi.