15 arrested over attack on Prothom Alo office sent to jail
The accused have been charged with rioting, unlawful entry, looting, vandalism, arson with intent to kill, intimidation and destruction of evidence.
A Dhaka court has sent to jail 15 people arrested in connection with the attack, arson and vandalism at the office of daily Prothom Alo in the capital's Karwan Bazar.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the order after a hearing this evening (22 December).
Those sent to jail are Md Naim Islam, 25, Md Sagar Islam, 37, Md Ahad Sheikh, 20, Md Biplob, 20, Md Nazrul Islam alias Minhaj, 20, Md Jahangir, 28, Md Sohel Mia, 25, Md Hasan, 22, Md Rasel, 26, Md Abdul Barek Sheikh alias Alamin, 31, Md Rashedul Islam, 25, Md Saidur Rahman, 25, Abul Kashem, 33, Md Prapto Sikder, 21, and Md Raju Ahmed, 33.
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During the hearing, defence lawyers Habibur Rahman, Hossain Ahamad and Imdadullah Mollah sought bail for the accused, arguing that there was no substantive evidence against them. They claimed the accused included day labourers, garment workers and rickshaw pullers, and alleged that the case had been filed with malicious intent and the charges were baseless.
Opposing the bail plea, Metropolitan Public Prosecutor (PP) Omar Faruk Faruqi told the court that the sections of law applied in the case were non-bailable. He further said the accused were seen at the scene in live streams and recorded video footage from various Facebook pages, and that the investigating officer identified and arrested them after reviewing the footage. He sought their detention in jail in the interest of a proper investigation.
After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail petitions and ordered all 15 accused to be sent to jail.
Case details
The case was filed at 12:10am today (22 December) at Tejgaon Police Station against 400 to 500 unidentified people under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The accused have been charged with rioting, unlawful entry, looting, vandalism, arson with intent to kill, intimidation and destruction of evidence.
The case also includes allegations of attempting to halt the publication of Prothom Alo and obstructing office work, inciting criminal activities through online instructions, and carrying out acts of sabotage.
The case further states that assets worth Tk2.50 crore were looted during the attack, while Prothom Alo estimated the total damage at Tk32 crore.
According to the statement, at around 11:15pm on Thursday (19 December), 20 to 30 unidentified people, armed with local weapons, sticks and flammable materials, gathered in front of the Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar and attempted to launch an attack.
When police intervened, they remained in front of the office, chanting provocative slogans, while calling others by phone and posting on social media to mobilise more people and incite violence.
By around 11:50pm, about 400 to 500 people had assembled from different parts of Dhaka. The FIR states that they broke the glass and shutters at the office gate and carried out vandalism, looting and arson.
The attackers threw furniture, equipment and documents from the building and set them on fire. The FIR alleges that about 150 computers and laptops, other electrical equipment, cash from lockers and books from Prothoma Prokashan were looted.
The building's fire extinguishing system was damaged, CCTV cameras were broken to destroy evidence, and attempts by the Fire Service to douse the flames were obstructed.
As a result of the attack, Prothom Alo suspended publication for one day for the first time in its 27-year history, apart from holidays, while its online edition remained suspended for about 17 hours.
