Keraniganj: Jagannath University (JnU) students who are now on a movement demanding dormitories on the empty land of Dhaka’s old central jail came under attack allegedly by some activists of JnU unit of Bangladesh Chattra League (BCL) on Sunday.

As part of their scheduled programme, a group of students of the university took position on the campus and staged demonstrations to press home their demand in the morning, witnesses said.

The students also staged demonstration in front of Bahadur Shah Park at about 11:00am, reports UNB.

At one stage, a group of JnU unit Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), allegedly led by its president Shariful Islam, appeared there and tried to disperse them.

A scuffle took place between the BCL men and the students that left eight protesters injured.

MA Mozahid Anik, president of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, said the BCL men swooped on them and tried to remove them.

Contacted, BCL leader Shariful Islam, said the demand of the protesters is illogical. ‘We told them they can’t stage demonstrations for the construction of dormitories.’

Earlier, on 26 August, Jagannath University (JnU) students enforced another two-day strike on the campus on Sunday and Monday to realise their demand.

The students’ demand for residential halls on the land of the vacated Dhaka jail came as their accommodation problems took a serious turn as landlords these days are unwilling to rent out houses to bachelors in the wake of militancy rise in the country.

The JnU students embarked on the movement for dormitories on the land of Dhaka Central Jail on 2 August after the transfer of its total setup to the newly-built jail facility in Keraniganj last month.