Man in black T-shirt torched Pahela Baishakh motifs

A man clad in black T-shirt torched two motifs made for the Pahela Baishakh parade.

The fire in the early hours of Saturday destroyed two motifs made for the traditional parade -- the symbolic "face of fascism" and the "dove of peace".

CCTV footage of Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, shows a man scaling the gate of the institute at 4:44am and leaving the place within two minutes after torching the motifs. Police found this out by analysing the CCTV footage.

Dhaka University proctor Saifuddin Ahmed said the man was clad in black T-shirt, brown pants and black sandal. He had ponytailed hair. The identity of the man is yet to be revealed.

The DU proctor informed police of the development after seeing the footage.

He said the miscreant used liquid combustible substance to torch the motifs and left towards Chobir Haat using the same gate.

Asked what the policemen present were doing at that time, the DU proctor said policemen were seen dousing the fire after the miscreant had fled.
The motif titled "face of fascism" was completely damaged and the "dove of peace" burnt partially.

Khalid Mansur, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh police station, told Prothom Alo that efforts are on to know the identity of the miscreant. Those who are involved with the torching will all be identified and brought to justice.

Md Faruq Hossain, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said police are leaving no stone unturned to identify those involved.

Fire Service control room said it got the message of fire at 5:04am and two units of fire service doused the fire at 5:22am.

DU vice chancellor, proctor and officials of the university visited the spot.
A General Diary (GD) has been filed with Shahbagh police station over the incident.

The DU authorities have formed a five-member probe committee led by Institute of Fine Arts’ dean Siddiqur Rahman Khan.