8 remanded over attack on Prothom Alo

A Dhaka court yesterday placed eight people on two-day remand each in a case filed over the vandalism and arson attack on the Prothom Alo office in the capital’s Karwan Bazar.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Hasan Shahadat passed the order after police produced the accused before the court with a seven-day remand prayer, said a court sub-inspector.

The eight are Naim Islam, 25; Saidur Rahman, 25; Abul Kashem, 33; Pranto Sikdar, 21; Raju Ahmed, 33; Sagar Islam, 37; Mohammad Jahangir, 28; and Mohammad Hasan, 22.

After the attack on the night of December 18, the case was filed by the newspaper on December 22 with Tejgaon Police Station against 400–500 unidentified people under the Penal Code, the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Special Powers Act, and the Cyber Security Ordinance.

Property looted from the office during the attack is valued at Tk 2.5 crore, while the total damage from vandalism and arson is estimated at Tk 32 crore, according to the case statement.

The Daily Star, which was similarly attacked on the same night with an estimated loss of around Tk 40 crore, also filed a case on December 22 against 350–400 unidentified people under the same laws.

Court records show 37 individuals were arrested in connection with the two cases until December 26 last year. Of them, 11 were arrested in the Daily Star case, while 26 were arrested in the Prothom Alo case.