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Published : 15 Jun 2025, 03:57 PM
Police have lobbed sound grenades and used baton charges to disperse a march by the 17th batch of registered teachers towards the Secretariat to push for a list of demands.
Ramna Division Deputy Police Commissioner Masud Alam told bdnews24.com that law enforcers were forced to use three to four sound grenades as the protesters ignored the barricades and entered the Secretariat area despite requests to desist.
When the Shahbagh Police Station OC's number was called, a person answered and said that seven sound grenades had been thrown.
The incident took place at Gate No. 5 of the Secretariat adjacent to the Jatiya Press Club on Sunday afternoon. The teachers held a “Long March to the Secretariat” programme in the morning. Later, they left for the secretariat at around 1:30pm.
Their main demands include —
The publishing of a special notification for registered candidates of the 17th batch as per the Appellate Division verdict and the opportunity for them to apply at least once.
The process for the sixth public notice should be suspended until the 17th batch issue is resolved.
A final decision should be taken quickly as per the recommendations of the Ministry of Law and Justice and Non-Government Teachers Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA).
The protesters were continuing to stand at the Jatiya Press Club intersection until 2:30pm. Additional police were deployed in the area and the situation was tense.
Masud Alam, deputy commissioner of the Ramna Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told reporters: "As far as we know, five to six people were injured. Sound grenades were used. They had a long march programme in front of the Secretariat. They have been holding a programme in front of the Press Club since morning. Then suddenly, at 1:30pm, they came here. I have learnt that those who passed the private teacher registration exam and are registered in the 17th batch were standing in front of the Press Club.
"I sent five of them to the Secretariat so that they could go to the concerned office, speak to the concerned department, and get updates on their demands. These five went. After they did, the five people seemed to say that they would not leave until the situation was resolved or that they had no other option."
He added, "They came back to Link Road. As usual, we have a barricade on Link Road. When they tried to break the barricade, the police first stopped them and asked them to turn back. But even then, they did not comply and became a little desperate.
"We could not let them go to the Secretariat. Section 144 (restriction on gatherings) has been imposed there. To bring the situation under control, we used one or two rounds of sound grenades. One or two of our policemen were also slightly injured by this."
