VC Prof Musleh Uddin Ahmed faxed a hand-written letter addressed to Chancellor President Iajuddin Ahmed, saying he resigns from his post considering the welfare of the university property and the students.

Mosharraf Hossain Shamim, a student of business administration at the SUST who had been shifted to the Combined Medical Hospital in Dhaka Saturday afternoon, succumbed to his injuries at 4:00am yesterday.

The condition of one of two other students undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital was said to be critical.

Seven students sustained bullet wounds as police opened fire on SUST students demonstrating on the Sylhet-Sunamganj Road on Friday night following a series of clashes with the students of Jalalabad Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital.

Shamim's body was sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue and then handed over to his uncle at 1:00pm.

The SUST students had been agitating since Saturday demanding the VC's resignation for not taking steps regarding Friday night's incident.

The students' other demands include punitive measures against Assistant Superintendent of Police Giasuddin Ahmed, who had ordered the firing on them, and ensuring proper treatment of the injured students.

Meanwhile, all students left their dormitories yesterday.

Contingents of police and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel were deployed at the university main gate.

STUDENTS DAMAGE VC RESIDENCE
Hearing the death news of Shamim, some 300 students went to the VC's residence and drove away the two guards before disconnecting the electricity, water, telephone and gas lines at 10:00am.

They broke into the house around 11:30pm and confined the VC along with his family including two children for hours.

They set fire to all furniture and other valuables in the two-storey building, the worth of which was estimated around Tk 50 lakh, according to an SUST official. They also burnt a microbus and the VC's official car.

Some leaders of Sylhet city BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami went to the spot at noon but failed to bring the students under control.

In the afternoon, the VC told newsmen that some misguided students "instigated by a third quarter and evil force within the varsity" vandalised and damaged valuable property of the university.

The students also swooped on some photojournalists and reporters of the local and national newspapers and satellite television channels. They beat photographer Md Aftabuddin of the daily Naya Diganta badly and several others.

Aftabuddin was admitted to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.

Sylhet Press Club President Muktabis Un Noor and General Secretary Ahmed Noor in a joint statement strongly condemned the attack on the newsmen during their professional duties.

SUST students brought out a procession on the campus yesterday afternoon, mourning Shamim's death, and held a rally in front of the library building.