Rajshahi University authorities have relieved acting proctor Leyakat Ali amid demonstrations by students over the death of Mahmud Hamid Himel, a student of its Graphics Design department, in a road accident on the campus on Tuesday. The university authorities have appointed Prof Ashabul Hoque of the Mathematics department as the new proctor, said a university media release signed by RU Registrar Prof Abdus Salam on Wednesday. Meanwhile, police arrested the driver of the truck that ran over Himel on the campus on Tuesday night. Driver Titu,35, was arrested from Balia village at Kashiadanga in the city around 1:30 pm, said SM Masud Parvez, the office-in-charge of Kashiadanga Police Station. Himel was killed and another student was injured as the truck carrying construction materials hit their bike in front of Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall where the construction work of a 20-storey academic building was going on. READ: RU student killed in road crash: students vandalise and set fire on vehicles His body was taken to Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) while the injured, Raihan Rimel, was being treated at the RMCH. Agitated by the incident, students set five trucks on fire, vandalised the gate of the VC’s residence and a few private vehicles on the campus at night. They even chased acting proctor Leyakat Ali as he went to the spot two hours after the accident. They also blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway near the university main gate demanding justice. Rimel, who suffered wounds in his right leg in the incident, said he and Himel were heading towards the university main gate from Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall on the bike around 8:45pm to draw money. “As there was no space to cross the truck, which was carrying stone, we stopped the bike on the left side of the road so that it could pass by. But instead of moving forward, the truck turned left, pulling the motorcycle towards the nearby field. At one stage, the wheels of the truck ran over us, crushing Himel’s head and breaking my leg,” he added. Later, the angry students set five trucks on fire at the spot, vandalised the gate of the VC’s residence and some private vehicles inside the campus. They also chased acting proctor Leyakat Ali. They blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway at the main gate of the university demanding justice. Then the protesting students placed 6-point demand, including the withdrawal of the proctor. VC Professor Golam Sabbir Sattar Tapu had urged the students to sit with them at 4 pm Wednesday at Sabas Bangladesh playground of the university. But the students turned down the request and demanded that their demands be met immediately. READ: Rajshahi University dormitories reopen after 18 months Around 2.30 am, the students went on a break stopping their demonstrations. The first namaz-e-janaza of the student was held at the central mosque of the university at 11.00 am on Wednesday. Then the body was taken to his village home in Natore. Himel was buried at the central graveyard of Garikhana of Natore at 2.30 pm. Joining his namaz-e-janaza, VC Prof Golam Sabbir said Himel's family will get compensation in addition to receiving the expenses for running the case, and providing the treatment cost of the injured student, Rimel.

The agitating students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) on Monday prevented a team, led by its proctor, from taking food to the vice-chancellor who  been confined to his residence. In the evening Proctor Alamgir Kabir, an associate professor, first went to the students to try to persuade them to end their fast-unto-VC’s resignation protest.  The students refused to break the fast and instead locked into an argument with the official team. Later the team tried to get into the VC’s residence with food, beverages and medicines but it failed to go through the human chain surrounding the place, witnesses said. READ: SUST unrest: Students won’t ‘leave campus’ until VC resigns The proctor said they were concerned about the health of the VC and other teachers trapped inside the residence. One of them already fell ill, he said adding that the VC also has heart disease and his medicines have almost run out. “If we could get in, we could manage to get him some medicines. But there is way now,” he said Meanwhile, at 3.30 pm on Monday, Iliasur Rahman Ilias, councillor of ward 6 of Sylhet City Corporation and Mokhlesur Rahman Kamran, councillor of ward 9 went to visit the VC with foods but they had to return back from the gate because of students’ protest. A group of students of have been on hunger strike for the sixth day Monday with several of them hospitalised as they fell sick. The students vowed to continue the hunger strike until SUST VC Prof Farid Uddin  Ahmed resigns. The hunger strike was launched on January 19, three days after police swooped on the protesting students charging batons and firing sound grenades and shotgun bullets. The attack was carried out to free the VC from confinement in the university’s IICT building. The clash left at least 40 people hurt, including teachers, students and police personnel.   A provost of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall, a dorm for females, was at the centre of the initial unrest as she allegedly misbehaved with some students on January 13 when they met her with some complaints. READ: SUST teachers’ association urges govt to probe ‘police action’ on students She has since the resigned from her post, citing health issues. Provost Zafrin Ahmed’s removal was one of the initial demands of the students protesting on the campus. But it has now spread to the general students as well. Although there was an hour-long virtual meeting between Education Minister Dipu Moni and the protesting students early Sunday, no solution is in sight yet to break the protracted standoff on the campus. After the meeting, the students remained stuck to their previous decision not to break the fast until he steps down, representatives of the dissenting students told UNB. They claimed that no discussion was held at the meeting over the VC’s removal or sending him on leave. The students said they want to continue the discussion but they will not break the fast. Dipu suggested the students submit their demands in a written form and then she will go for the next step. Meanwhile, the University Teachers Network held a symbolic hunger strike to express solidarity with the protesting students demanding the resignation of the embattled VC on Monday. Teachers gathered in front of Aparajeyo Bangla monument from 12 PM to 3 pm. The teachers’ association of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) urged the government to form a neutral committee to investigate the police action on protesting students on January 16. The association said this after a meeting at the central auditorium of the university on Sunday. The teachers demanded the government take actions against the accused after the investigation. The association announced a four-point charter of demands from the teachers to solve the ongoing unrest on the campus. They sought the government's assistance to do what it takes to break the hunger strike of the protesting students. The association said the government has the jurisdiction over the vice-chancellor’s resignation but it urges an immediate step in this regard. It also urged not to take any violent actions against the students.

The Dhaka University on Sunday reopened its library after about an 18-month Covid-induced closure amid a heavy rush of students, some of them trying to force their entry defying health guidelines and causing short-lived agitation. Tension erupted after assistant proctor Liton Kumar Saha allegedly attempted to slap a student who tried to enter the science library building forcefully, witnesses said. Angered by Liton’s behaviour students mobbed him demanding an explanation from him. Also read: DU dormitories to reopen on Oct 5 The students also harassed two campus reporters and forced them to delete the photos and videos they shot.