Six months after the arson attacks on the country’s two leading dailies -- The Daily Star and Prothom Alo -- the investigation remains stalled despite a direct ministerial directive for its swift completion.
In the aftermath, police arrested 37 people, but many of them are now out on bail.
Despite scores of videos that surfaced during and immediately after the December 18 arson and vandalism and dozens of screengrabs collected by law enforcers, investigators say they are struggling to identify the perpetrators and have not detained any new suspects in the past six months.
The coordinated attacks targeted Prothom Alo before moving to The Daily Star, where 29 journalists and staffers were trapped inside as assailants vandalised property and set the office ablaze.
The Daily Star and Prothom Alo filed separate cases.
Filed on December 22, The Daily Star’s case accused 350 to 400 unidentified individuals under the Penal Code, the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Special Powers Act, and the Cyber Security Ordinance. The complaint also estimated the damage at Tk 40 crore.
Within days, police detained 11 in connection with the attack on The Daily Star and 26 over the attack on Prothom Alo.
On February 28, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed visited the newspaper offices and said the unprecedented attacks had tarnished Bangladesh’s reputation globally. He directed police to conduct a fair investigation and submit charge sheets within two months.
Following months without new arrests, the investigator in The Daily Star case on March 26 executed “shown arrested” orders for three individuals already behind bars in the Prothom Alo case.
Meanwhile, on June 3, the investigator sought to show Anowar Hossain, 38, of Lakshmipur’s Raipur arrested in the Prothom Alo case. He was earlier arrested in a cybercrime case.
Court documents show that 17 people arrested in the Prothom Alo case secured bail by April 26, including Ataur Rahman Bikrampuri, an Islamic speaker known for provocative online activities. After being formally implicated in the case on April 2, he was granted bail on April 20. Police later booked him in The Daily Star case on April 27.
On May 23, the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court-5 in Dhaka granted Bikrampuri bail in The Daily Star case, citing that he was not named in the FIR, had made no confessional statement, and that some co-accused had already secured bail.
Court records show that 15 suspects were arrested in the case over the attack on The Daily Star. Of them, Bikrampuri, Almas Ali, and Foisal Ahmed are on bail, while Aynul Haque Kashemi and Saydur Rahman remain absconding.
Between May 6 and May 23, the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Courts granted bail to Foisal, Almas, and Bikrampuri. In each order, judges cited a lack of foundational evidence, noting that the suspects were neither arrested at the scene nor named in the FIR, and that no specific allegations had been brought against them.
Investigators have already missed the deadlines for submitting probe reports in both cases, which were due on June 7 and 8 for Prothom Alo and The Daily Star respectively, said a sub-inspector at the court.
The deadlines have since been extended to July 9 and 12.
Asked about the lack of progress, Sub-Inspector Jahirul Islam, lead investigator in The Daily Star case, said that although digital evidence and footage point to overseas influencers Pinaki Bhattacharya and Elias Hossain as instigators, rushing the process would undermine the broader investigation.
“We can submit the charge sheet now if we want. But under the guidance of senior officers, we are collecting more information to bring additional suspects to justice…. If we submit the charge sheet now, only those already arrested will be named. New information and leads are still emerging.”
Asked whether investigators have identified social media accounts involved in campaigns surrounding the incident or received information about Facebook pages reportedly taken down by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Jahirul said police had not received any such information.
“To be honest, we do not have any direct channel of communication with the BTRC. If there was any authentic information indicating the matter originated there, we could contact them.”
Contacted by The Daily Star, Khaleda Begum, deputy commissioner of DB Cyber and Special Crime (North Division), declined to comment because the investigation was ongoing, saying only that those detained included both direct participants and instigators.
An analysis by Dismislab and The Daily Star suggests the attacks were premeditated.
Analysing 3,064 Facebook posts published between December 13 and 19 last year, the study found a clear link between online incitement and real-world violence.
According to the analysis, hostile narratives were amplified by influencers including Elias Hossain and Pinaki Bhattacharya, as well as right-wing activists, before escalating into direct calls by Elias to attack and burn specific locations across Dhaka.
Crowds later mobilised and carried out attacks that mirrored the calls made on Facebook in real time.
The analysis also found that law enforcement agencies and Meta failed to act on visible threats circulating on Facebook for more than 20 hours, even as the violence was being livestreamed.
