Dhaka: Students took to the streets for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday demanding punishment of those responsible for Sunday’s accident that killed two college students in the city and resignation of the Shipping Minister for his comments on the accident as the protest spread outside Dhaka.

 Amid the growing student protest, the government on Wednesday announced to keep all the educational institutions across the country closed for Thursday, reports the UNB.

The students blocked roads in the capital and a number of districts to press home their demand, leaving commuters to suffer.

In the capital, commuters faced serious troubles in reaching their destinations as public transports went off the streets to avoid vandalism and BRTA drives against unfit vehicles and underage drivers and drivers without licences.

Students from different schools and colleges put barricades on roads in Farmgate, Matuail, Jatrabari, Shantinagar, Rampura, Badda, Babu Bazar Bridge, Kabi Nazrul Govt College road, Tongi, Uttara, Mirpur and Science Laboratory in the morning.

Besides, around 1,500-2,000 students from around 20 colleges, including Sheikh Borhanuddin College, Dhaka College, Ideal College and Commerce College, took position at Shahbagh intersection at noon demanding capital punishment of the driver and helpers of the killer bus and resignation of Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan.

They burnt the effigy of the shipping minister and chanted slogans, ‘We want justice’.

Students of Dhaka University and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and Eden Mohila College also joined the protest programme of college students expressing their solidarity with their demands.

In the morning, the DU general students formed a human chain in front of its Central Library on the campus.

Students of Viqarunnisa Noon School & College, Siddheshwari Girls’ School and College and Habibullah Bahar University College took to the streets with placards and took position at Shantinagar intersection around 1 pm. They chanted different slogans demanding punishment of the driver responsible for the road accident and left the place around 3 pm.

A group of students from different colleges blocked the road near the House Building in Uttara in the morning, disrupting traffic.

Another group of students put up barricade on Mirpur road, halting traffic from Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-1. They also vandalised some 20 passing vehicles.

The agitated students vandalised and torched a staff bus of Biman Bangladesh Airlines near Kurmitola Golf Club.

In many areas of the capital, people were seen waiting on roads for long for public transports. Office-goers, women and girls were the worst sufferers due to the transport crisis.

However, some BRTC buses were seen plying the city roads.

Gazipur correspondent reports: Students of EH Arif College put up barricades at Konabari on Dhaka-Tangail highway around 10:00am, halting vehicular movement.

Besides, students of different schools and colleges staged demonstrations in College Gate area on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway demanding safety on roads.

Narayanganj correspondent adds: Students of several colleges and other educational institutions staged a citywide blockade to protest Sunday’s accident and demanding the resignation of the shipping minister, isolating the city from Dhaka.

Transport owners stopped operating buses from Signboard area fearing vandalism, causing sufferings to commuters.

Four protesting students were beaten up by transport workers in the city’s Signboard area, said police.

In Chattogram, students from different schools and colleges blocked the road near Kazir Dewri demanding punishment of those responsible for the death of the two students.

Several hundred students of different institutions gathered in the area and brought out a procession that paraded through Kazir Dewri and Jamalkhan areas.

Officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station Md Mohsin said the students left the place at noon.

Sylhet correspondent reports: Students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) formed a human chain on the campus protesting the death of the two students.

In Barishal, students blocked Dhaka-Barishal Highway for an hour to realise their nine-point demand, including punishment of the offenders.

A sub-inspector of Kotwali Police Station was also closed as he misbehaved with the protesting students.

Witnesses said several hundred students from different colleges took part in the protest on Dhaka-Barishal highway from around 12 noon.

Around 1 pm, police obstructed the students while sub-inspector Habib locked into a heated altercation with the protesters.

At one stage, the protesters blocked the road after the SI misbehaved with them and rebuked them.

Later, around 2 pm, students withdrew the blockade after Senior Assistant Commissioner of police assured them of taking tough action against the offenders.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to keep the educational institutions closed on Thursday for the sake of security of students and others, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Sohrab Hossain told UNB.

Besides, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan urged the agitating students to withdraw their blockades and go back to their classes as the government has fulfilled their all demands.

Talking to reporters at the Secretariat, he said the drivers of the killer buses have been arrested and remanded, while the route permit and registration of ‘Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan’ has been cancelled. ‘The toughest actions will be taken against the offenders,’ he reaffirmed.

Describing the demands of the students as logical, the minister said, ‘All of their demands are accepted and the government has taken necessary steps to fulfill their demands.’

He said 309 vehicles were vandalised and eight of them were torched. ‘Vested groups can instigate to divert the protest into another direction if the movement continues for a longer time...So, we urge the students to go back to their classes,’ he said.

Earlier, the minister attended a meeting with Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, representatives of transport owners’ associations and workers’ leaders, Inspector general of Police (IGP) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia directed the police to tackle the ongoing student protest in the city peacefully instead of applying any force.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has cancelled the registration of two buses of ‘Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan’ amid public outrage.

In another development, members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Wednesday detained the owner of ‘Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan’ bus which killed the two students.

On Sunday, Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, students of the college section of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin School and College, were killed as a ‘Jabal-e-Noor Paribahan’ bus ploughed through some students in front of Kurmitola General Hospital on Airport Road.

Angered by the incident, students went on a rampage on the day vandalising whatever buses they found before them.

They also blocked the Airport Road for five hours on Monday and many city roads on Tuesday, too.