Tk 50,000, fridge and TV bought with looted money recovered from accused

A total of Tk 50,000 in cash, a fridge and TV purchased with looted money were recovered from Md Nayeem Islam, one of the arrested accused in the case filed over the terrorist attack, looting, and arson at the Prothom Alo office.

The investigating officer of the case, Tejgaon police inspector Abdul Hannan, stated this in a petition to the court seeking that the accused be kept in custody until the investigation is completed.

A request has been made to keep 15 people in custody in connection with the terrorist attack at the Prothom Alo office. A hearing on the matter will be held shortly at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana.

In connection with the attack, vandalism, looting, and arson at the Prothom Alo office, a case was filed at Tejgaon police station in the capital around 12:10 am on Sunday, naming 400 to 500 unidentified individuals as accused. The case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Special Powers Act, and the Cyber Security Ordinance.

The accused for whom custody has been requested are Md Nayeem Islam, 25; Md Sagar Islam, 37; Md Ahad Sheikh, 20; Md Biplob, 20; Md Nazrul Islam, also known as Minhaj, 20; Md Jahangir, 28; Md Sohel Mia, 25; Md Hasan, 22; Md Rasel, 26; Md Abdul Barek Sheikh, also known as Alamin, 31; Md Rashedul Islam, 25; Md Saidur Rahman, 25; Abul Kashem, 33; Md Prapto Sikder, 21; and Md Raju Ahmed, 33.

The petition seeking custody states that during the investigation, based on questioning people at various levels in the area and specific information obtained from sources, multiple operations were conducted to arrest these accused.

Police have recovered Tk 50,000 in cash, a TV and a fridge bought with the looted money from Nayeem Islam, accused no 1 in the case filed of the incident. The investigation of the case is ongoing, and the addresses of the accused are being verified. In this context, it is necessary to keep the accused in custody until the investigation is completed and their addresses are verified. For the sake of a proper investigation, keeping the arrested accused in custody until the completion of the investigation is essential.

The case alleges that the accused unlawfully entered the office, created disorder, carried out looting and vandalism, set fires with intent to kill, threatened staff, and destroyed evidence of the crime. Additionally, they are accused of arson and vandalism aimed at halting the publication of Prothom Alo and disrupting office operations, as well as directing criminal activities online and engaging in subversive actions.

The case statement mentions that the value of the property looted during the attack, vandalism, and arson is Tk 25 million. Prothom Alo further stated that the total loss amounts to Tk 320 million.

The case statement also notes that CCTV footage of the attack and video recordings from various media outlets are available.