Student arrested for killing Savar teacher with cricket stump

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested a student on charges of killing his teacher Utpal Kumar Sarker with a cricket stump in Savar on the outskirts of the capital.

The student, 16, was picked up from Sreepur of Gazipur on Wednesday, Al Amin, an assistant director of RAB's Legal and Media Wing, told The Business Standard.

The development came hours after the arrest of the student's father in the same incident.

"After the incident, when the physical condition of the teacher deteriorated, the student fled from Savar, and was in hiding for some time," said the RAB official.

"When the teacher died two days at an intensive care unit (ICU), he took refuge in an acquaintance's house in Sreepur, Gazipur," he added.  

Al-Amin said a briefing will be held at the RAB's media centre at Karwan Bazar on Thursday morning for more details.

Thirty-five-year-old Utpal, son of late Ajit Sarkar of Ullapara in Sirajganj, breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Savar Enam Medical College and Hospital at 5:15am on Monday.

Ujjal, the father of the 10th grader student, the prime accused in the case filed over the death, was arrested from Kushtia's Kumarkhali area on Tuesday night. He was later put on a five-day remand by a court.

Asked if the father was directly involved in the killing, SM Kamruzzaman Khan, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia Police Station, said, "The matter is under investigation."

Saiful Hasan, principal of Haji Yunus Ali School and College, said, "Every year we host cricket and football tournaments for our students. On Saturday (27 June), a girls' cricket match was taking place. Around 2pm, the student suddenly struck Utpal with a cricket stump while he was standing on one side of the field. Utpal was rescued and admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital," he added.

Aseem Kumar Sarkar, the deceased's brother who filed the case with Ashulia police station, said, "The student hit my brother as disciplinary action was taken against him for eve-teasing."

On Wednesday, Utpal's fellow teachers and students continued their protests for the second day.

They formed a human chain on the road in front of the college around 9:30 in the morning, brought out a protest procession and wore black badges.

From the human chain, they made six demands that include providing financial compensation to the slain teacher's family and taking effective steps to eliminate juvenile delinquency.

Md Saiful Islam, principal of the college, said, "We want an exemplary punishment to the culprits so that no one will dare to commit crimes in the future."

In a separate development, the University Teachers Network has demanded an end to attacks on teachers. Eighty-one teachers made the demand in a statement on Wednesday.

In a statement, the teachers' network said that it was seen that teachers were being attacked, humiliated and killed by unruly mobs or students.

It added that today's society is not giving teachers the value they deserve.

In another development, five students of the Dhaka University started a hunger strike demanding the arrest of the culprits.

Naeem Parvez, Mehedi Hasan, Chowdhury Shamim Affan, Tariqul Islam and Mostafa Kamal Rony started the strike at the foot of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at the university campus from 3.15pm on Wednesday.