5 security guards suspended after padlocks found on 5 DU academic buildings
The locks were fastened with chains, bearing a sign that read “Lockdown BSL”
Five security guards have been temporarily suspended after padlocks were discovered on the gates of five academic buildings at Dhaka University in the late hours of yesterday night.
Confirming the development, Dhaka University Proctor Associate Professor Saifuddin Ahmed told The Business Standard today (12 November) that the guards assigned to those gates had been issued show-cause notices and temporarily suspended.
The gates affected include the rear gate of the Institute of Education and Research (IER), the entrance of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, the middle gate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, the gate near the High Court beside Curzon Hall, and the front gate of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the Curzon Hall area.
The locks were fastened with chains, bearing a sign that read "Lockdown BSL."
The suspended guards are Shah Alam and Md Selim of the IER, Shafiqul Islam of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Ali Ahmed stationed at Curzon Hall, and Sangram Hossain responsible for the Fine Arts middle gate.
"We are reviewing CCTV footage. Two individuals were seen locking the gates at around 3:36am. No one involved in such activities will be spared," the proctor said.
The incident drew immediate attention after leaders of the banned student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League admitted responsibility in social media posts.
Meanwhile, Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) Vice President Abu Shadik Kayem announced on Facebook that students would stage protests today and tomorrow at the Ducsu field "to root out banned and expelled Chhatra League terrorists and resist fascist forces."
As part of the programme, a mass gathering will be held in front of the Ducsu building tonight, followed by a campus-wide march at 9pm. Kayem stated that sit-in demonstrations would continue at various points across the campus over the two days, urging all students to unite and rise against what he termed the "anti-national miscreants of the Awami League."
