A case was filed against anti-quota protesters on charges of vandalising police vehicles, assaulting police officers, and attacking policemen during the ongoing quota reform movement.
Shah Alam Md Akhtarul Islam, additional deputy commissioner (Ramna Zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, confirmed the matter to The Daily Star.
Khalilur Rahman, a driver from the transport section of Rajarbagh Police Lines, filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station yesterday. Many unidentified students were accused in the case.
In the case statement, it was mentioned that on July 11, at one point of the protest, the agitators crossed the Shahbagh intersection, forming an illegal assembly that caused riots and obstructed government duties. They broke through the police barricade at Shahbagh and clashed with officers, resulting in general injuries to the policemen on duty.
As the protesters moved towards Hotel Intercontinental, senior police officials attempted to direct them back to Shahbagh intersection. The agitators then surrounded APC-25 and a water cannon parked near BSMMU, behaving aggressively. They forced the water cannon driver out and vandalised the vehicle, causing damage estimated at Tk 5 lakh. This included breaking two SS stands in front of APC 25, the radio antenna, the rear wheel guard, and the left-side mirror of the water cannon, added the case statement.
A general diary was subsequently filed with Shahbagh Police Station.
The case statement further mentioned that despite efforts by senior officers to de-escalate the situation, the agitators became more violent, throwing water bottles, table tennis balls, and bricks at the police, resulting in injuries to many officers. The situation worsened as unidentified students from Jagannath University joined the protest at Shahbagh, breaking a barricade near Birdem Hospital gate and injuring more policemen while shouting slogans and hurling abuses.
The agitators further tried to incite unrest by spreading rumors of police attacks on students at other universities, including Cumilla University, and alleging detentions at Shahbagh police station, it added.
They escalated their aggression by beating and threatening the police. They willfully hit, obstruct, attack and obstruct the riot control officers causing harm and intimidation, according to the case statement.