Four BCL leaders held at hunger strike by excluded BCS recruitees, later freed

By the Editorial Team · Saturday, October 24, 2026

Four leaders of the banned Bangladesh Chattra League were briefly detained during a hunger strike by candidates excluded from the 45th Bangladesh Civil Service exam notification at Dhaka University. Their detention highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding the protest, with legal actions still pending after their release.

Four leaders of the banned Bangladesh Chattra League (BCL) were detained briefly during a hunger strike by candidates excluded from the gazette notification for the 45th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination. The protest took place on Thursday afternoon in front of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at Dhaka University (DU).

The four individuals taken into custody were Ferdous Khan, former assistant secretary of the BCL’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall unit at Dhaka University; Ekram Gazi, former vice president of the Chhatra League’s Asmar Ekushey Hall unit at Dhaka University; Habibul Islam, deputy general secretary of the Chhatra League’s Ashraful Haque Hall unit at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU); and Moniruzzaman Monir, education and study circle secretary of the same hall unit at BAU.

Eyewitness accounts and police sources reported that the hunger strike was initiated by candidates excluded from the government’s official gazette notification for the 45th BCS examination. Subsequently, it was revealed that members of the banned Bangladesh Chattra League were among the protesters.

Police, accompanied by DU’s proctorial team, conducted an operation at the site and detained the four leaders. Nasir Uddin Shawon, senior joint secretary of the Dhaka University unit of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, which is a rival student organization, confirmed the presence of the detained activists at the hunger strike. “We found four activists of the banned Chhatra League among those observing the hunger strike. They had held various positions in the organisation. Police came and took them away,” he said.

Kamal Uddin, officer in charge of the Nilkhet Police Outpost, stated that authorities entered the site following coordination with the university proctorial team. “They were taken to Shahbagh Police Station for questioning. Legal action will be taken against them after verification,” he said.

On Friday afternoon, Md Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge at Shahbagh Police Station, reported that the four activists had been detained on Thursday but were released later the same day after being handed over to their families on the condition of certain undertakings. The specific details of any potential legal proceedings remain pending.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.