A student was shot and injured in Gazipur’s Bhawal Rajbari area on Saturday evening, triggering outrage among members of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

The shooting took place around 6:30pm when students of the Anti-Discrimination Movement were gathered in front of the deputy commissioner's office following daylong protests, witnesses said.

They said a student, identified as Mobassher Hossain, was shot in the hand by an assailant on a motorcycle. He was rushed to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital and is now out of danger, hospital sources said.

Leaders of the movement accused Awami League activists of orchestrating the attack. Movement leader Md Nayan Dewan said that the assailant fled immediately after opening fire.

In response to allegations of police negligence, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Sadar Police Station has been withdrawn, Gazipur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dr Md Nazmul Karim Khan said.

The police commissioner, who addressed the students during their rally, apologised for the delay in police response and acknowledged failures in handling the situation.

“On behalf of the police force, I apologise for the incident. I admit my failure. No attacker will be spared, and every attack will be responded to,” he said.

Referring to the negligence of the Sadar Police Station OC, he said, “I heard my OC responded to your call after two hours. I stood here and declared that he will be suspended. Those who conspire with fascism cannot be allowed to serve in the police.”

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He said that those responsible for violence over the past 17 years were attempting to reemerge, but such attempts would not be tolerated.

The OC mentioned that 16 people had already been arrested and the home ministry had approved a special operation, ‘Operation Devil Hunt,’ aimed at tackling what he described as ‘Awami fascism’.