On Thursday night, during the attack, vandalism, and arson at the Prothom Alo office, a young man was seen brandishing an axe in his hand in front of the burning building. A video and photos of the scene have circulated widely on social media. Another video shows a different young man declaring that Prothom Alo and The Daily Star had been “razed to the ground.”
By analysing videos, social media posts, and photographs, law enforcement agencies have identified these two individuals along with several others. Police said that 10 more people were arrested yesterday, Tuesday. With these arrests, a total of 29 people have been detained over the past two days. Talebur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Media and Public Relations Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), confirmed the information yesterday, Tuesday.
The young man seen celebrating with an axe has been identified as Mohammad Mainul Islam. He was arrested yesterday from Uttara in Dhaka by the Detective Branch (DB) of police. His home village is Isla Bari in Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi, and he currently resides in Uttara.
The man seen in another video standing at the scene that night and telling a private television channel that Prothom Alo and The Daily Star had been destroyed was also arrested by the DB. He has been identified as Kari Muaz bin Abdul Rahman. Police said he is a leader of the Shariatpur district unit of Jubo Majlish.
His home is in Paschim Kandi village under Shariatpur Sadar upazila. In the video circulated on social media, he was heard saying, “What we were supposed to do on 5 August, we could not. Today we have done that, following Hadi bhai’s death.”
Police also reported the arrest of another individual who had shared photos of the attack on Prothom Alo from the scene on Facebook and called on others to join the assault. His name is Niaz Mahmud Farhan. His home is in Boro Manika village of Borhanuddin upazila in Bhola.
The other seven arrested yesterday are Abdul Rahman (home district Noakhali), Md Jannatul Naim (Rangpur), Md Faisal Ahmed (Chandpur), Zubayer Hossain (Noakhali), Md Almas Ali (Mymensingh), Zulfikar Ali alias Sourav (Shah Ali, Dhaka), and Md Zakir Hossain Shanto (Mymensingh).
Zakir Hossain Shanto was arrested by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit. His home is in Chakpatra village of Mashakhali under Gaffargaon upazila in Mymensingh, and he lives in Hazaribagh, Dhaka. CTTC sources said Shanto was present during the vandalism at the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star offices. He also went live from the scene and shared the video on his Facebook account.
Police sources said that through analysis of video footage and photographs, more than a hundred individuals have been identified as being involved in the attack, vandalism, looting, and arson at the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star offices. Of them, 29 have been arrested so far and shown arrested in two cases filed over the attacks on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.
In addition, at least 20 more individuals have been identified as instigators behind the attacks on the offices of the two national dailies. Several people involved in the harassment of Nurul Kabir, editor of the English-language daily New Age, in front of The Daily Star office have also reportedly been identified.
The terrorist attacks on the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star offices were carried out in a planned manner on Thursday night, following incitement on social media. The attackers continued vandalism, arson, and looting for an extended period and even obstructed fire service vehicles that arrived to extinguish the blaze. That same night, the Chhayanaut building was also attacked and set on fire. The following evening, on Friday, the Udichi office was attacked and set ablaze.
Prothom Alo filed a case over the incident at Tejgaon Police Station on Sunday night, and The Daily Star filed a case on Monday evening.