Online Desk  :  At least 15 people were injured during a clash between the students of Dhaka College and City College in the Science Lab area of Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon centering a previous dispute. To control the situation members of police and army rushed to the spot. Around 4:30PM, police were seen firing several rounds of tear shells and sound grenades towards both sides of the clash to bring the situation under control.

Sources said that the students of both colleges locked into a clash around 2:45PM on Wednesday over a scuffle that had taken place on Tuesday among the students of the two colleges while boarding on a student bus of Dhaka College. A group of Dhaka College students went to the City College and carried out vandalism there in the afternoon and in retaliation the City College students took positions at Science Lab. Later, Dhaka College students approached the spot, triggering a clash between two sides.

The clash continued for more than one hour and both groups equipped with sticks and iron rods, chased each other, and hurled brick chips, resulting 15 people injured. Shah Mostafa Tariqujjaman, assistant commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) New Market Division, said the clash is going on. They are trying to bring the situation under control, he said.

As students have blocked the roads in the area, creating long tailbacks and causing sufferings for commuters and locals. Inspector Md Faruk, in-charge of the police camp at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said that 11 injured students received primary treatment at the hospital. According to police, clashes ensued between the two groups of students since noon with chase and counter-chase ongoing at intervals. Students of the colleges had previously clashed in October, prompting City College authorities to announce a closure for 20 days. The college reopened on Tuesday, according to a statement signed by City College Principal (acting) Prof Kazi Neyamul Haque.