Dhaka: Left-leaning student bodies on Monday observed a strike at Dhaka University protesting attacks on pickets during a half-day shutdown in the city on January 26 demanding cancellation of a coal-fired power plant being installed near the Sundarbans.

Academic activities were greatly hampered due to the strike as the Progressive Students’ Alliance locked doors of Arts Building, Social Science Building and Business studies building. The presence of students on the campus was also very thin.

They also took position in front of academic buildings to enforce the strike.

The alliance leaders and activists held a brief rally at the foot of Aparajeyo Bangla and brought a procession on the campus in support of their strike.

They alleged that some activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) tried to obstruct their procession and egged in a scuffle with them around 11am.

“Despite obstruction, we marched around Dhaka University campus chanting our demand for ensuring proper punishment to those police members involved in assaulting journalists and our activists during the January-26 hartal,” Progressive Students’ Alliance convener  Imran Habib Rumon told UNB.

BCL Dhaka University unit president Abid Al Hasan, however, turned down the allegation saying no one of their organisation had any involvement in such incident.

At least 40 people, including two journalists, were injured as police attacked pickets, fired teargas shells and rubber bullets, sprayed hot water using water cannon and charged baton during the half-day general strike in the city on Thursday.

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports enforced the hartal to press home their demand for the cancellation of the propose coal-based Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans.