A Rajshahi court on Thursday turned down a plea to file a lawsuit against Shibir leader and RUCSU General Secretary Salauddin Ammar and eight others over the recent clashes between Shibir activists and alleged Chhata League-linked students.

Rather, the court has instructed the Police Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary investigation into the allegations that Ammar beat up Mahmudul Hasan, a student of Rajshahi University, during the clashes with the intent to kill.

MS Asad-uz-Zaman, father of Mahmudul Hasan, filed an application with the court, urging judges to register the attempted murder case against Ammar.

It is worth noting that Mahmudul Hasan is currently in jail, after a court ordered he be kept in prison in another case filed over the clashes. The case was filed with the Shah Makhdum Police Station in Rajshahi city under the “Anti-Terrorism Act”.

As per latest case application filed by Mahmudul Hasan’s father, Ammar and around 19 others surrounded Mahmudul while he was studying inside the RU Central Library on Monday noon.

Ammar and co were armed with local and sharp weapons including knives, machetes, iron rod, bamboo stick and others. All of a sudden, they started beating Mahmudul indiscriminately. Ammar himself hit on the forehead and head three times with an iron rod. Others hit the youth on the eyes, chest, shoulders and other parts of the body.

They also tried to strangle him by pinning him down. Afterwards, they thought that Mahmudul had succumbed to the injuries and called an ambulance. While loading the youth onto the ambulance, he moved, signalling he was alive.

The assailants pulled down Mahmudul from the ambulance and started beating him again. Later, he was admitted to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, states the application seeking lawsuit filing.