A group of outsiders attacked a sit-in organized by BNP-backed teachers at Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU) on Monday in front of the university’s administrative building. Following the incident, leaders and activists of the university’s student wing of the BNP staged a protest on campus, demanding punishment for those involved in the attack.

Professor Dr. Atikul Rahman, Dean of the PGS faculty and one of the victims, said the teachers were protesting against what they described as the arbitrary actions of Vice-Chancellor Dr. Kazi Rafiqul Islam. He alleged that the vice-chancellor makes decisions with a select group of preferred teachers and had recently issued show-cause letters to five teachers of the NSVM faculty without justification. The sit-in was organized in protest of these actions when the attack occurred.

Vice-Chancellor Dr. Kazi Rafiqul Islam, speaking from Dhaka, said a group was trying to destabilize the campus in his absence. He announced plans to form an investigation committee upon his return to the university.