Blockade at CUET continues as VC, others remain confined in pitch dark

Two alumni trapped inside the building—identified as Engineer Shahriar and Engineer Titu Md. Sohan—suffered acute medical complications due to the prolonged blockade.

At around 1:00 AM on Tuesday (October 13), Dr. Mohammad Abdullah from the CUET Medical Center, accompanied by technologist Basu Deb, was granted entry into the building by demonstrating students after the trapped Vice-Chancellor requested urgent medical assistance over the phone.

Following a preliminary medical assessment, Dr. Abdullah reported that Engineer Shahriar’s blood pressure had spiked dangerously to 170/100 mmHg. He was immediately evacuated to the campus medical center for emergency care before being transferred to Evercare Hospital in Chittagong city for advanced treatment.

Engineer Titu Md. Sohan was diagnosed with a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg. On the doctor's advice, saline was administered to others remaining inside the building due to exhaustion.

Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Sheikh Shariful Alam stated via telephone that everyone inside the building had grown exhausted and ill due to the lack of ventilation and prolonged confinement.

The crisis began on Monday morning when Prof. Dr. Sheikh Shariful Alam—nearly three weeks after his appointment—entered his office by breaking open the lock on Administrative Building-2, accompanied by several current and former students. Protesting students subsequently issued a deadline demanding that the VC and his associates vacate the premises by 12:00 PM.

When the VC failed to comply, students severed the building’s electricity connection and locked the main gates from the outside. Demonstrators have maintained that the locks will not be removed until the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor steps down from his post.