Students of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) continued their shutdown for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, demanding the reinstatement of Prof Dr Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem as the university's Vice-Chancellor.

As part of their movement, the students held a mass signature campaign at the university's Shaheed Minar premises in the morning while keeping the main gate closed.

Students participated in the campaign in queues, providing their student ID numbers and signatures. Protesters said they would submit the collected signatures to the higher authorities.

Farhan Hasnat Adib, a third-year student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said Sayem was removed from the post without prior notice on September 21.

"We staged a protest procession that night in response. The following day, we observed a complete shutdown at CUET. Today, on the second day of our movement, we are holding the mass signature campaign," he said.

He said the signatures would be sent to the higher authorities and that students would continue their peaceful movement until their demand was met.

Earlier on September 21, students demonstrated after the authorities decided to remove Sayem as CUET Vice-Chancellor and appoint Prof Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology as his replacement.

The protesting students later locked the Vice-Chancellor's residence and announced a shutdown of all academic and administrative activities at the university until further notice.