Dhaka: Students of Jagannath University (JnU) enforced a 24-hour strike at the university on Thursday morning to press further the demand for constructing residential halls for them on the empty land of Dhaka Central Jail.

The students had announced the strike from their demonstrations in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Wednesday.

During strike, the students took position in front of the university from Bahadur Shah Park to Ray Saheb Bazar at about 9:00am and started a demonstration that continued till 1:00pm.

Vehicular movement on the thoroughfares in the neighbourhood was hampered, much to the sufferings of the commuters.

The students raised the demand for constructing residential halls for them on the land of vacated Dhaka jail as their accommodation problem mounted following landlords’ unwillingness to rent out their houses to students in the wake of militancy in the country.

Meanwhile, JnU Proctor Professor Nur Mohammad said, ‘The students’ demand is logical but it is not right to mount public sufferings by blocking roads. Necessary steps will be taken after discussions.’

The JnU students have been staging demonstrations since 2 August on the campus demanding construction of dormitories on the land of Dhaka Central Jail, whose setup was shifted to Keraniganj last month.