The notice was served after a proctorial body and police in a raid held seven female students from outside their halls on the campus at around 9:00pm on Friday.

Campus sources said the proctor took away the identity cards of the students who are the cultural activists of different groups on the campus.

The proctor also asked the students to explain within 48 hours the reasons for staying outside the halls beyond the scheduled time, the sources added.

If they fail to come up with satisfactory answers, the university authorities will inform the guardians of the students about the matter, said the proctor office.

RU women's halls have two rules for the return of the inmates in the evening. In summer the students must be back to their dormitories by 7:00pm and in winter by 5:30pm.

Some left-leaning student and cultural organisations have strongly protested the show cause notice and demanded immediate withdrawal of the evening time limit for female students and cultural activists.

They termed the rule as 'Madrasa rule'.

"We will launch tougher agitations after the withdrawal of the state of emergency," said an infuriated resident of Munnujan Hall on hearing the news.

When contacted, Proctor Enamul Haque confirmed the incident.