Police have arrested retired Army officer Major General Golam Mohiuddin Chowdhury, 66, in connection with illegal entry, assault, vandalism, and looting at content creator Salman Muqtadir’s studio within the New Gini Properties housing project, located in Dhaka’s ECB Chattar.
A team from the Gulshan Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) arrested him on Wednesday afternoon during an operation in Segunbagicha.
The DMP Media and Public Relations Division confirmed the arrest in a press release, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to seven.
Armed rampage and studio destruction
The incident occurred at midnight on 26 September, when a group of approximately 50 miscreants forcibly entered the housing project area of New Guinea Properties Limited. Armed with firearms, cleavers, daggers, and sticks, the attackers fired around 50 rounds indiscriminately and vandalised vehicles.
During the attack, site engineer Md Parvez and several others sustained severe injuries. The perpetrators also unlawfully entered popular content creator Salman Muqtadir’s studio, named “Brown Fish,” causing extensive damage and looting items.
Following the incident that night, Salman Muqtadir released a video on social media showcasing his vandalised studio, which generated widespread discussion across the country.
The attack occurred the night after the late-night demolition of the Radda MCH-FP Centre, a mother and child health centre in Mirpur, raising questions regarding the country’s law and order situation.
Police gunfire, multi-million Taka losses
Upon receiving news of the incident, Cantonment Police Station officers arrived at the scene, where the attackers opened fire on the police. In response, officers fired five shotgun rounds in self-defence to bring the situation under control.
Police initially arrested two named suspects at the spot and later detained a third during a follow-up operation, recovering domestic weapons and spent bullet casings.
Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, an official at the project, filed a case with Cantonment Police Station as the complainant, naming 13 individuals alongside 150 to 200 unnamed suspects.
According to the complaint, the looted items included cash, laptops, computers, BRB cables, cameras, and professional media equipment. The complainant noted that the organisation suffered structural damages worth Tk1.42 crore alongside stolen property valued at Tk1.50 crore.
Three suspects placed on police remand
Meanwhile, the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Siddique Azad granted a three-day police remand for three other arrested suspects, identified as Mamun, 32, Aslam, 24, and Munna, 29.
Investigating officer Sub-Inspector Subrata Debnath of Cantonment Police Station had requested a five-day remand.
State counsel Harun Or Rashid confirmed that after hearing arguments from the state and the defence lawyer who sought cancellation of the remand, the court approved three days of interrogation.
