At least 20 people were injured as miscreants attacked a motorcade of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in Mollahat upazila of Bagerhat district on their way to Dhaka to join the ‘March for Unity’ on Tuesday.
The motorcade, consisting of 25 buses, was heading towards Dhaka from Khulna.
Witnesses said a bus repeatedly pushed another when the convoy reached Nauapara in Fakirhat upazila, triggering heated arguments between the students and the bus staff. At one stage, the bus hit the bus, they said.
As the motorcade reached Mollahat's Madrashaghat around 11:30 am, the bus staff and local people attacked a bus carrying students, triggering a clash that left 20 people injured.
The attackers also vandalised a bus of the motorcade and hurled brick chips at the buses.
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Zahurul Tanvir, a coordinator of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, Khulna, alleged that the collaborator of the fascist Awami League attacked the motorcade, turning the entire area into a battlefield.
Vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway came to a complete halt for two hours following the clash. Later, police and Army personnel brought the situation under control.
Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mollahat Police Station, said local people along with the staff of the bus counter got involved in the attack.
Additional police have been deployed in the area to maintain the public order.
The Anti-discrimination Student Movement announced ‘March for Unity’ instead of proclamation of the July revolution programme at the central Shahid Minar on Tuesday.