During the conflict that erupted at noon, leaders and activists of BNP-backed JCD and Awami League-backed BCL fought with their common opponent Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Shibir with sticks, cricket bats and stamps. They also pelted each other with brickbats, turning the college premises into a virtual battlefield for two hours.

The agitated students damaged at least five vehicles on the nearby roads. Four platoons of police rushed to the college compound and lobbed at least 15 teargas shells to quell the situation.

WITNESS ACCOUNT
Campus sources said panic gripped the students as Shibir activists, most of them outsiders, started gathering at the main gate of the college since 8:30am.

Witnesses said Shibir activists went to the office of JUC Principal Ayesha Shirin Rahman to congratulate her on the recent government declaration to turn the college into a full-fledged university.

As the Shibir activists came out of the principal's office, BCL leaders and activists deprecated them, resulting in a scuffle between the two sides in front of the Commerce Faculty.

Soon JCD leaders and activists and a number of general students joined the BCL members at about 12:00noon, triggering off a vicious clash.

Chases and counter-chases took place between Shibir and JCD and BCL activists during the two-hour skirmish.

Soon the clash spread to the surrounding lanes and alley roads, forcing the shop owners and other businesses to shut their establishments in a hurry in panic.

After the clash, JCD and BCL leaders and activists took out processions on the campus protesting the attacks on their leaders and activists by Shibir men. They also demanded arrest and punishment of the attackers.

At about 2:30pm, police took position on the college compound and moved the demonstrators out.

A number of JCD leaders told The Daily Star that they have announced Shibir persona non grata on the college campus. "If they try again to come on the college campus, we will resist them," said a JCD leader seeking anonymity.

Thirteen wounded students were admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and many more to different city hospitals and clinics, but their identities could not be available immediately.

Ten of the students admitted to the DMCH were Sheikh Mahiuddin Hamim, 25, master's final-year student of Management, Anwar Hossain, 24, second-year of Islamic Studies, Ismail Zamiullah, 25, honours final-year of Bangla, Joinal Abedin, 22, second-year of Islamic History, Fazle Rabbi Bahar, 25, master's final-year of Islamic History, Kazi Rakib Ansari, 22, second-year honours of Accounting, Shaidul Islam, 25, second-year honours of Islamic Studies, Yusuf Ali, 23, third-year honours of Bangla, Mohammad Hatab, 22, third-year honours of Physics, and Shibir JUC unit President Mohammad Sabbir, 25. All of them claimed to be members of Shibir, the student front of ruling coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami.

CONFLICTING VERSIONS
Iftakheruzzaman Shimul, a JCD JUC unit leader, told the reporters that Shibir had never announced any programme on the college campus before. This time they gathered their armed cadres from outside to stage a showdown and attacked on the general students and JCD and BCL leaders and activists, he added.

BCL JUC unit General Secretary Gazi Abu Sayeed said Shibir brought their armed cadres from Rajshahi and Chittagong to make their scheduled programme a success and to stage a showdown on the college campus.

Shibir City (East) unit General Secretary Kamal Hossain said some outsider JCD cadres led by Shahin, Kajal, Halim and Khokon attacked Shibir leaders and activists while they were going through the Commerce Faculty Building.

A huge contingent of law enforcers was deployed on the college campus to avert any further clash as a tense situation was prevailing there. No case was filed until 7:30pm in this connection.