A traffic police sergeant of Dhaka Metropolitan Police was suspended on Sunday for assaulting an assistant professor of Jahangirnagar University Saturday night in the capital’s Uttara.
Following demonstration by teachers and students of the university at Savar, the DMP in a text message stated that the sergeant Imran Hossain was suspended and was closed to DMP Control. ‘Two inquiry teams [have been] instituted. They [have been] asked to submit their reports within three days,’ the SMS, sent to the media, read.
On Saturday night, Rakib Ahmed, assistant professor of journalism and media studies at JU, was assaulted by the traffic police sergeant at House Building of Uttara following an altercation over driving on the wrong side.
Rakib Ahmed’s car was heading towards the airport railway station with his parents to catch a Sylhet-bound train when the sergeant stopped the car.
The sergeant wanted to seize the car and assaulted the teacher, who at one stage allegedly misbehaved with the policeman as the policeman did not pay heed to his urgency.
In protest at the assault, JU teachers and students on Sunday held demonstration on Dhaka-Aricha Highway near the campus demanding punitive action against the policeman.
During the protest, the students vandalised four buses and blockaded the highway with burning tyres, causing traffic congestion on the busy highway.
Rakib Ahmed, also a former president of Dhaka University Journalist Association, had served as staff correspondent of Daily Star prior to joining the university. His wife Fatema Islam Moon is an assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
JU Teachers Association president Khabir Uddin, among others, extended their support to the protest by the students. The angry students beat up a policeman near the main entrance of the university.
Khabir Uddin said they would form a human chain today demanding exemplary punishment of the accused cop.
The blockade was withdrawn after JU vice-chancellor Farzana Islam assured the students that action would be taken.
Meanwhile, Dhaka University Journalist Association formed a human chain in front of Aparajeyo Bangla of the university demanding punishment of the police officer who attacked its former president Rakib.
Source: New Age
