CUET closed indefinitely amid protests, students ordered to leave halls

The Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology has announced it is closed indefinitely, and students have been instructed to vacate residential halls on the fourth day of protests blocking the road and vandalising vehicles over the deaths of two students in a road accident.

On Thursday, the university’s academic council met for an emergency meeting under the vice chancellor and made the decision as protesters were blocking the road and torching vehicles, said CUET Assistant Director (Public Relations) Mohammad Rashedul Islam.

Exams and all other academic work are suspended, the notice said. Male students have until 5pm on Thursday to vacate the halls, and female students have until 9am on Friday.

Two CUET students died in a road accident between a bus and a motorcycle near the Zia Nagar Selina Quader Chowdhury College in Chattogram’s Rangunia Upazila on Monday.

The dead were identified as Santo Saha of the 20th batch and Toufiq Hossain of the 21st batch of the Department of Civil Engineering. Another student was seriously injured in the accident and is being treated at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Aggrieved by the deaths, students began holding a protest at the CUET gate on Monday. They set a Shah Amanat Parbahan Group bus on fire that night and vandalised another of their buses.

The CUET authorities and representatives from transport owners, transport workers, and students met with the Chattogram deputy commissioner on Tuesday. Assurances were given of Tk 500,000 in compensation for the families of the dead and Tk 300,000 for the student injured.

An investigation committee, led by an additional district magistrate, was formed to investigate the incident.

But students announced a 10-point list of demands and continued their protests. One of them included compensation of Tk 20 million each for the families of the dead.

Students protested outside the university gate again on Wednesday, blocking the road and halting traffic.

They blocked the Chattogram-Kaptai road again on Thursday. The protesters forced passengers to disembark and walk, including children and the elderly.

Protesters vandalised and set fire to several vehicles on Thursday afternoon.