Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, staged a sit-in programme at Shahbagh in Dhaka for around seven hours on Thursday demanding justice for Dhaka University student Shahriar Alam Shammo, who died following an attack by miscreants in the Suhrawardy Udyan area on May 13.
City dwellers had to suffer immensely as the sit-in, blocking the Shahbagh area, caused huge traffic congestion in all adjacent areas throughout the day.
After concluding the blockade programme in the afternoon, JCD leaders warned of tougher movement if no visible progress was seen immediately in the investigation of the murder case.
Shahriar is a student of the Institute of Education and Research and also a leader of the DU unit of JCD.
On May 14, the police arrested three 鈥榦utsiders鈥� for their suspected involvement in the murder. On Tuesday night, three more were arrested in this connection.
JCD on Wednesday announced that they would hold a sit-in programme at Shahbagh and in front of the InterContinental Dhaka between 10:00am and 5:00pm on Thursday demanding justice for Shahriar.
On Thursday, the JCD leaders and activists started to gather at the Shahbagh area from 10:00am amid rain.
Their sit-in programme spread up to the crossing in front of the InterContinental Dhaka.聽聽
JCD President Rakibul Islam Rakib led the sit-in at Shahbagh while JCD general secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir led the programme in front of the hotel.
The organisation leaders and activists alleged that the law enforcement agencies were investigating the murder, but their responses after nine days of the murder indicated a lack of clarity and confidence.
They demanded an end to the investigators鈥� negligence, immediate arrest of and exemplary punishment for the killers, strong role of the university administration in ensuring justice for Shahriar and ensuring safety for the students on the campus.
Criticising the government鈥檚 failure, JCD president Rakibul Islam said that, 鈥榟ad they acted promptly after the murder, all suspects could have been arrested that night.鈥�
He said that they would not leave the streets until justice was served and the real killers were brought to book.
He also threatened to stage tough movements if their demands were not fulfilled.
The leaders and activists of JCD left the areas at about 5:00pm without announcing any new programme.
The blockade disrupted vehicular movement at Shahbagh, although rickshaws and small vehicles moved on the roads adjacent to the area.
Ambulances and emergency vehicles were allowed to move on the road.
People in areas including Banglamotor, Karwan Bazar, Nilkhet, Hatirpool, Farmgate, New Market, and Moghbazar areas were seen stranded in traffic gridlock for hours.
The leaders and activists of JCD on May 18 and May 20 blocked the Shahbagh crossing to press home the same demands.
