A clash erupted between police and students of Prime Asia University near the main gate of Bangladesh's Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon.
Witnesses reported that the students were involved in a standoff with police, though the reason behind their protest remains unclear.
Earlier, a four-member student delegation entered the Secretariat to meet the education adviser for a scheduled meeting at 4:30pm. Over a hundred other students, who were waiting outside, got into a heated argument with police as tensions rose.
Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mansur Khalid told reporters that the police acted to prevent the students from breaching security. "They tried to enter forcibly, and some even attempted to ascend the wall. We dispersed them to maintain order," he stated.
There were initial reports that police fired two blank shots to control the situation. However, OC Khalid denied this, calling it "disinformation" and emphasising that police were not in a position to use lethal weapons.
