SUST main gate reopens after 11 days

PBC News:  The main entrance gate of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) has been reopened after 11 days of closure.

The protesting students withdrew their barricades from the university’s main gate on Wednesday night and opened the locked administration and academic buildings.

They also remove barricades from the university VC Farid Uddin’s residence at the request of former Professors Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and his wife Yasmeen Haque saying to continue their movement on the campus until VC Farid Uddin Ahmed resigns.

On Wednesday morning, a group of students of the university, who were on hunger strike for the last seven days, ended their fast at the request of Muhammad Zafar Iqbal.

The couple met the strikers at early hours.

They informed Muhammad Zafar Iqbal about their five-point demands.

Meanwhile, five former students of SUST, who were arrested in a case filed by the university administration, were released after a court granted them bail on Wednesday.

The five are Habibur Rahman Khan, 26, of Tangail; Reza Noor Moin, 31, of Bogra; Nazmus Sakib Deep, 32, of Khulna; AKM Maruf Hossain, 27, of Dhaka; and Faisal Ahmed, 27, of Comilla.

According to the case statement, the accused aided in blocking a road and engaging in extortion, threatening people and causing damage worth Tk 1,00,000.

The five were detained on charges of aiding the protesters at SUST.

The protesters blocked the main gate of the university when police along with water cannons and armoured vehicles took position outside the main gate.

The students took positions in front of the VC’s residence and put barricade there on January 23.