Staff Reporter:
A Dhaka court on Wednesday sent three more accused to jail in connection with two cases involving attacks, looting, and arson at the offices of the newspapers Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque passed the order after a hearing.
The accused sent to jail are Zakir Hossain Shanto, 29, Niyaz Mahmud Farhan, 21, and Azmir Hossain Akash, 27.
According to the case regarding The Daily Star, on 19 December at around 12:35am, a group of attackers armed with sticks and flammable materials entered the office building, assaulted staff, looted cash and equipment, and set fire to multiple floors, damaging fire safety systems, CCTV cameras, and other critical infrastructure.
More than 200 electronic devices worth around Tk5 crore and Tk35 lakh in cash were looted. Initial estimates suggest total losses amount to nearly Tk40 crore. Thirty staff members were rescued during the attack.
On 22 December, Daily Star’s Head of Operations Md Mizanur Rahman filed a case with Tejgaon Police Station, naming 350–400 unidentified attackers.
That same night, 400–500 unidentified individuals were also sued over the attack, vandalism, looting, and arson at Prothom Alo’s Karwan Bazar office. On Tuesday, 15 accused in that case were sent to jail.
