Two ministers and ruling party leaders yesterday came down heavily on Bangla daily Prothom Alo for a report it ran online on March 26.

Their comments came after Prothom Alo reporter Samsuzzaman Shams was picked up from his home in Savar before dawn yesterday.

Less than two hours before he was picked up, a Jubo League leader sued Shams under the Digital Security Act.

Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader criticised the newspaper in a hurriedly called "views-exchanging meeting with journalists" at his ministry.

Quader said the report was "false" and "politically motivated".

"Such a big lie! Does an apology solve the problem? It is an offence," he said when asked whether picking up a journalist was right when the daily "corrected its mistakes".

Asked whether the issue could have been raised before the Press Council, he said, "You [journalists] raise the point … There are legal procedures."

In reply to a query about the justification of such an action against a reporter when the unscrupulous businessmen who manipulate the market are free, Quader said, "You are not reacting to false news. But you are reacting to him being picked up. However, I don't know [whether he is picked up]. Since I don't know about the matter, how can I respond?"

He added, "Price hike is a global problem… The cost of living is jumping up. The government is sincerely trying to reduce the commodity prices."

Quader claimed that prices of some products have come down.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, "If anyone is aggrieved and seeks justice or files a case, police have to take action. I know a case was filed."

"The report of Prothom Alo's journalist was false, fabricated, and had ill intentions, which were revealed by the investigation of aggrieved journalists. Ekattor TV presented it nicely," he told reporters after a programme in his ministry.

"… On Independence Day, such a fake news item can aggrieve anyone. You will not like the news too," he said.

Replying to a question if the Press Council Act was ignored, he said, "I don't know about it. The law will take its own course."

Meanwhile, the AL's women's organisation Bangladesh Mahila Awami League staged demonstrations in front of the Jatiya Press Club against what it claimed "Prothom Alo's false news".

Speaking at the event, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, a presidium member of the AL, said it was a "conspiratorial" report.

"The reporter and the executive editor had published the report and by withdrawing the news, they proved that it was baseless, purposeful, and conspirative," said Nanak.

"Ethical values must be upheld in journalism. We will not spare anyone if yellow journalism is proved … . We have protested, we will continue to protest and we will break the web of conspiracy," he said.

A group of Dhaka University students, reportedly backed by the Bangladesh Chhatra League, also formed a human chain in front of Raju Memorial sculpture on the campus.

Chhatra League men also burnt an effigy of Prothom Alo Editor and Publisher Matiur Rahman in the TSC area last night.

Meanwhile, a lawyer of a Chattogram court has served a legal notice on Prothom Alo editor, executive editor Sazzad Sharif and reporter Shams for publishing "fake, false and fabricated photo report hurting the spirit of the Liberation War and independence of Bangladesh".

Mithun Biswas sent the legal notice to Prothom Alo's office through postal service yesterday. Mithun is a former member of 22nd National Convention Preparation sub-committee Bangladesh Awami League.

In the notice, he asked the editor, executive editor and the reporter to unconditionally apologize before the nation within seven days or else legal action would be taken for creating unrest and causing deterioration of law and order.