‘Allegations to be probed’
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Sunday said the allegations regarding the vandalism of Salman Muktadir’s studio would be investigated.
He made the remarks at a press briefing on current affairs at the Secretariat.
The home minister also said the matter would be investigated, noting that Muktadir himself had not filed the case at that point and had made sweeping accusations against BNP on Facebook.
He said there was a pre-existing land dispute, which may have been theunderlying cause, and that some bullet casings had been found at the scene.
He added that the political identity of those responsible would not be a factor in the investigation.
He further said that, according to preliminary investigation, people acting on behalf of a retired military officer had gone to seize the land under cover of darkness, during which vandalism occurred.
He said Salman Muktadir had a tin-shed structure within that site, apparently used for content production, which was also significantly damaged.
Meanwhile, police said a case was filed with Cantonment police station over the vandalism of content creator Salman Muktadir’s studio, Brownfish, located at the New Guinea Project near ECB Chattar in the capital.
Salman Muktadir filed the case himself on Sunday morning.
The attack and vandalism at the establishments took place on Saturday, with cash and goods looted during the incident.
While allegations of an extortion-motivated attack have been raised, police say it stemmed from a land dispute.
A case was filed at Cantonment police station on Sunday, and police said three people have been detained so far.
Reports indicate that armed assailants stormed the New Guinea Housing Project beside ECB Chattar around 10pm on Saturday.
Over a hundred people arrived in four mini-trucks and opened indiscriminate fire, injuring several people with bladed weapons and destroying CCTV cameras.
When police arrived at the scene, an exchange of gunfire took place between the two sides.
The attack left content creator Salman Muktadir’s studio devastated; he alleges his staff were beaten and property looted. Muktadir claims the attack was carried out in retaliation after he refused to pay extortion money.
The housing society is being built on roughly five bighas of land with 17 multi-storey buildings planned.
The owners allege that around two months earlier, the same group had carried out a similar attack while demanding a large sum in extortion.
Police have initially attributed the attack to the land dispute, and Cantonment thana OC Muhammad Ghiasuddin confirmed three people have been detained, saying police brought the situation under control after being alerted, and that legal action has been taken.
The housing society’s management alleges the attackers looted around 10 million taka (roughly BDT 1 crore) in cash, along with mobile phones and other goods worth several crore taka.
