Naim bought TV-fridge with media loot money: DMP

Photo: Collected

News Desk: Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has said that 17 people have been arrested in connection with the attack on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star in the capital. Among them, one individual alone looted Tk 150,000, which he later used to buy a television and a refrigerator. This information was disclosed on Monday (22 December) through a press release from the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing and at a DMP press briefing.

The Press Wing stated that a youth named Md. Naim (26) was arrested from Chauddagram in Cumilla along with Tk 50,000 of the looted money. He is a resident of the Kunipara area of Tejgaon in the capital. During preliminary interrogation, Naim confessed that he looted a total of Tk 123,000. With that money, he purchased a television and a refrigerator from Mohammadpur. The Press Wing said that these items have been seized.

Meanwhile, DMP said the arrested individuals are: Akash Ahmed Sagar (28), Abdul Ahad (18), Md. Biplob (22), Nazrul Islam alias Minhaj (20), Md. Jahangir (28), Sohel Rana (24), Md. Hasan (22), Russell alias Sakil (28), Abdul Barek Sheikh alias Alamin (31), Rashedul Islam (25), Sohel Rana, Shafiqul Islam (34), Pranto Sikder alias Faisal Ahmed Pranto, Abul Kashem, Raju Hossain Chand, and Saidur Rahman (25).

At a briefing held at the DMP Media Center on Minto Road in the capital, Additional Police Commissioner (Crime and Operations) SN Md. Nazrul Islam said that Prothom Alo has already filed a case, while The Daily Star is still in the process of filing one.

He said that The Daily Star informed police they would file a case after assessing the extent of the damage. So far, 17 people have been arrested. Police have filed cases under four different laws in connection with the incident. Of the arrests, 13 were made by local police stations, three by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, and one by the Detective Branch (DB). Operations to arrest the remaining accused are ongoing.

On Thursday night (18 December), a group of people vandalized, set fire to, and looted the Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar and The Daily Star building on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. In connection with the incident, a case was filed on Sunday night naming 400 to 500 accused under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Special Powers Act, and the Cyber Security Ordinance.