A group of students on Thursday confined Amir Hamza, a lawmaker from the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for the Kushtia-3 constituency, during the inauguration of a football tournament at Kushtia Government College in the district.

The incident occurred in the morning when the lawmaker arrived as the chief guest to inaugurate an inter-department mini football tournament at the college ground, according to the police and college officials.

At the start of the programme, a group of students gathered in front of the stage and began chanting slogans against the opposition party lawmaker.

When the lawmaker entered the field, the protesters surrounded him, raised slogans and staged a sit-in.

College authorities later escorted Amir Hamza to the principal’s office in an attempt to control the situation.

However, the protesting students followed him there as well, continuing their demonstration and further heightening tensions on the college campus.

‘Upon receiving information, the police rushed to the scene, entered the principal’s office and subsequently escorted MP Amir Hamza out of the campus,’ Kushtia police station officer-in-charge Kabir Hossain Matubbar said.

Following the incident, a post on Amir Hamza’s verified Facebook page claimed that he was ‘held hostage by activists of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’ during the visit.

The JCD is the student wing of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Kushtia Government College Chhatra Dal unit general secretary Shimul Hossain denied the allegation, saying that the protest ‘was not politically motivated’.

‘There was no involvement of Chhatra Dal in the incident. The protesting students were general students demonstrating over the issue of tree cutting,’ he said.

Amir Hamza, who is facing criticism for his recent ‘controversial remarks’, however, could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts for his comment in this connection.