Protests shut Bangladeshi university

Students have been protesting for a week

By Moazzem Hossain BBC reporter in Dhaka

The authorities in Bangladesh have closed down the country's top engineering university following a week of student protests.

The university was shut down indefinitely

Thousands of resident students at the Bangladesh university of engineering and technology (Buet) were asked to leave their dormitories by 5pm on Sunday.

This followed the deployment of police and paramilitary troops to the campus as protesters engaged them in running battles.

Several students were injured as police fired tear gas shells and used batons to disperse hundreds of protesters who had laid siege around the office of the Buet's vice-chancellor.

Hundreds of engineering students have been agitating for a week and on Sunday security forces clashed with them while trying to disperse angry demonstrators.

Hunger strike

The students were demanding the arrest of those responsible for the death of a female student who was killed during a gunfight between rival factions of the pro-government student front.

Neighbouring Dhaka university shut in July

Protesting students were also demanding the withdrawal of expulsion orders issued by the Buet authorities to several student leaders after they organised the protests.

More than 30 Buet students are continuing their "fast-unto-death" for the seventh day to force the authorities to meet their demands.

Four of them have been sent to hospital with their condition fast deteriorating.

This is the second university that has been closed down in less than two months in the face of widespread student protest.

In July, the University of Dhaka, the country's largest university, was shut down for an indefinite period following weeklong student unrest.