Play store
Four railway employees at Rajshahi Railway Station have been temporarily suspended over their alleged involvement in the assault of a student of Rajshahi University (RU).
The decision was announced in an office order issued by the Bangladesh Railway’s Rajshahi office on Monday (September 21).
The suspended employees are Md Arif Hossain, Md Rokon Uddin, Md Shafiqul Islam and Md Shahanur Hossain.
According to the order, they were suspended on suspicion of being involved in an “unwanted incident” at Rajshahi Railway Station. Until further orders, they have been instructed to report daily to the commandant.
However, RUCSU Vice-President Mostakur Rahman Zahid questioned the decision, saying railway authorities had taken similar action following previous protests but failed to implement their decisions.
“We are concerned whether the employees have been suspended hastily to stop the movement and whether they will be reinstated later,” he said.
He also urged RUCSU and hall-union leaders to remain at the station until all demands, including student safety and stoppages of all trains at Rajshahi station, are implemented.
On Sunday night (September 20), Ayub Ali, a 2022-23 academic year student of the Department of Islamic History and Culture at RU, was allegedly assaulted by railway staff while he was at Rajshahi Railway Station to receive his uncle.
Following the incident, students initially blocked the railway tracks and staged protests. As the railway authorities did not take any decision for a long time, students later launched a “March to Rajshahi Railway Station” programme.
They subsequently surrounded the station and vandalised parts of the premises. At one stage, the railway authorities announced the temporary suspension of the four employees.
