Four held, police point to land dispute

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Sunday arrested four people, including the alleged main planner, over Saturday night’s armed attack, vandalism and looting at content creator Salman Muqtadir’s BrownFish Studio in New Gini Properties, ECB Chattar, Dhaka – an incident police say stemmed from a land dispute rather than the extortion attempt alleged by Muqtadir.
Cantonment police station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Gias Uddin identified the arrested men as Shahriar, described as the main planner, Md Mamun of Bhasantek slum, and Aslam and Munna of Majumdar Mor. 
He said New Gini Properties authorities had filed a case at the police station, with the case statement putting damages at around Tk1.5 crore.
DMP Assistant Commissioner (Cantonment Zone) Nazmul Haque said the attack was linked to a dispute over land between New Gini Properties Ltd and the owner of an adjacent plot. 
“There was no extortion incident here. Salman Muqtadir’s studio was not the target,” he told reporters, adding that the attackers may not have known the property belonged to Muqtadir. 
DMP Joint Commissioner Mahidul Islam said a large group  

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had entered the housing project at night, pointing to a possible dispute over possession, though investigators had yet to establish which parties were involved.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, briefing reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday, said police were treating Muqtadir as a victim and linked the attack to a dispute over roughly 35 kathas of land in Manikdi Namapara. 
He said preliminary findings suggested a group acting on behalf of a retired senior military officer had tried to forcibly occupy the disputed land at night, vandalising several structures, including Muqtadir’s tin-shed studio. 
Police recovered spent bullet casings and locally made weapons from the scene, he said, adding that investigators had found no specific evidence to support Muqtadir’s extortion claim or his allegation that people linked to the ruling BNP were involved, and that a formal complaint would be investigated if filed.
Muqtadir had earlier alleged that individuals linked to the BNP demanded extortion money from the landowner and attacked the property after he refused to pay. 
The home minister noted, however, that Muqtadir himself had said during a Facebook Live that no one had directly demanded money from him.
Witnesses said around 100-150 people, some armed with machetes and firearms, stormed the premises in five pickup trucks at about 10:30pm on Saturday, firing shots as they entered. 
Studio staff hid in a toilet but were followed and robbed of their phones and wallets at gunpoint, according to a studio official. 
New Gini Properties official Md Pallab Ali said the attackers also broke into a nearby flat and looted valuables, including a motorcycle. 
Police who arrived at the scene exchanged fire with the attackers, discharging five shotgun rounds before the assailants broke through a gate and fled; officers later recovered four pistol casings and two machetes.
Muqtadir, who was in Chattogram at the time, flew back to Dhaka on learning of the attack and later visited the damaged studio, where glass, furniture, instruments and equipment lay strewn and broken. He said he would pursue legal action.
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqul Rahman condemned the attack in a Facebook post on Sunday, sharing Muqtadir’s account of the incident.