Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - A group of people launched a violent attack on the Karwan Bazar office of Bangla daily Prothom Alo around midnight on Thursday, vandalising multiple floors of the building and setting fire to materials outside the premises.
Although the attackers have not yet been identified, witnesses said the group marched to the Prothom Alo office from Shahbagh, where several organisations had gathered earlier in protest following the news of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi’s death late Thursday night.
Hundreds of demonstrators reached the Prothom Alo office around 11:00pm and surrounded the building. Dozens of youths then climbed the four-storey structure and vandalised several floors. Shortly afterward, protesters piled documents, papers and furniture taken from inside the office in front of the building and set them on fire.
“A few of us are trapped inside. The Prothom Alo building in Karwan Bazar is under attack and being vandalised. They are now setting it on fire,” Prothom Alo journalist Abul Hasnat told The Business Standard, a local newspaper.
After the attack on Prothom Alo, the angry mob moved on to vandalise the office of The Daily Star, also located in Karwan Bazar. The crowd reached the Daily Star office around 12:15am, where protesters smashed glass panels, dragged out chairs, tables and papers, and set them on fire while chanting slogans including “Naray-e-Takbir” and “Allahu Akbar.”
According to media reports, army personnel arrived at the Daily Star office around 12:35am to bring the situation under control.
BBN/SSR/AD