One remanded over arson, vandalism at Daily Star office

A Dhaka court on Thursday placed an individual, Md Saiful Islam, 32, on a two-day remand in a case filed over the attack, vandalism and arson at the office of The Daily Star in the capital's Karwan Bazar.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Hasib Ullah Piash passed the order after the investigation officer, SI Md Zahirul Islam of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, produced the accused before the court and sought a seven-day remand.

According to the investigation officer, the accused's preliminary involvement in the incident was identified after reviewing his Facebook posts and analysing the statements of previously arrested suspects.

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Police told the court that the remand was necessary to identify other people involved in the incident and recover the looted valuables.

The defence opposed the remand and sought bail, claiming that Saiful is a businessman who had gone to Karwan Bazar on the day of the incident for business purposes.

The defence lawyer, Mohammad Mofazzal Hossain, argued for the cancellation of the remand and sought bail. He told the court that many people had publicly criticised The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, but they had not been arrested.

The defence further argued that the accused had no involvement in the attack, looting, vandalism or arson at the newspaper's office, stating that he is merely a businessman who had gone to the area for business purposes.

According to the case statement, a group of attackers vandalised the The Daily Star building, looted valuables and set fire to furniture and important documents on the night of 19 December last year.

It was also alleged that some employees were assaulted after the attackers entered the building. Following the incident, Mizanur Rahman, Head of Operations at The Daily Star, filed a case with Tejgaon Police Station on 22 December against 350 to 400 unidentified people.