Prothom Alo, The Daily star attacked: 9 more arrested

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s detective branch (DB) has arrested a further nine individuals in connection with the attack and arson at the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. With these arrests, the total number of detainees has risen to 28.

The deputy commissioner (DC) of the Media and Public Relations Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Talebur Rahman, confirmed the arrests at around 11:15 am today, Tuesday. He said that further details would be provided later.

Police have stated that, as of Monday, 31 individuals have been identified as being involved in the attack, vandalism, looting and arson at the offices of the country’s leading newspaper offices, Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.

Of these, police reported that 19 were arrested by yesterday, Monday. Today, Tuesday, the arrest of a further nine individuals has been announced.

On Thursday night, a group of people carried out a coordinated terrorist attack on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. The attackers continued their assault for an extended period, carrying out vandalism, arson and looting.

They also obstructed fire service vehicles that arrived to extinguish the blaze. On the same night, the Chhayanaut building was also attacked and set on fire. The following evening, on Friday, the Udichi office was similarly attacked and set ablaze.

On Sunday night, Prothom Alo filed a case with Tejgaon police station in connection with the incident.

The case was lodged under various sections of the anti-terrorism act, the special powers act, the cyber security ordinance, as well as provisions of the Penal Code, including attempted murder.

The case names between 400 and 500 unidentified individuals as accused.