Photo: Collected
Content creator and influencer Salman Muqtadir was a victim in the vandalism of his studio – that is what police have found initially. However, a more detailed investigation into the incident is needed. The legal process for filing a GD or a case is under way and a case may be filed soon, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said.
He said this while talking to journalists at the Secretariat on Sunday afternoon.
The home minister said a studio of Salman Muqtadir was vandalised yesterday. He later came on Facebook Live and made various statements about it. Besides commenting that such incidents are very normal in Bangladesh, he described the BNP as a party of extortionists. His allegation was that the studio was vandalised because extortion money had not been paid.
The minister further said police have informed him that although Salman Muqtadir made allegations on Facebook Live, he has not filed any case so far. He himself even said that no one had demanded extortion money from him and that he would have paid if it had been demanded. As a result, it has not yet been possible to identify against whom specifically the allegation of demanding extortion is made.
According to the police, no specific basis has been found for the sweeping allegation that the BNP is a party of extortionists. If Salman Muqtadir files a case with a specific allegation of extortion, police will investigate it.
The home minister said the place of occurrence is Manikdi Namapara under Cantonment Police Station. Two parties are in dispute there over about 35 decimals of land. On one side is a builders company and on the other a retired senior military officer.
He said that, according to information from the preliminary investigation, some people on behalf of the retired military officer went to occupy the place in the dark of night and the vandalism took place there. Inside that establishment was a tin-shed structure of Salman Muqtadir, where various kinds of content were probably produced. It too suffered considerable vandalism.
According to the minister, a preliminary investigation into the incident has already been carried out. However, police have said further investigation is needed to learn the details. No case has been filed on behalf of Salman Muqtadir so far. A controversy has arisen over the incident centring on his various statements on Facebook Live.
Salahuddin Ahmed said police went to the spot after receiving a call on 999 and three people were arrested from there. Various pieces of evidence, including bullet casings and some locally made weapons, were also recovered from the spot.
