An armed group arriving in pickup trucks stormed a property development near Dhaka’s ECB Chattar area, allegedly opening fire, assaulting workers and looting valuables before vandalising buildings, including popular content creator Salman Muqtadir’s Brownfish Studio, in an attack police say stemmed from a dispute over around 35 kathas of land.
The Saturday night assault at New Gini Properties in South Manikdi has since escalated into a wider controversy over law and order after Salman publicly challenged Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed over the police response and the minister’s initial assertion that the content creator had not filed a case.
Police said on Sunday night that four people, including alleged organiser Shahriar Mahmud, had been arrested.
Five spent cartridges, pellets and locally made weapons were recovered from the scene, Cantonment Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Gias Uddin told Dhaka Tribune.
A case has been filed against 13 named suspects and 150-200 unidentified people over the attack.
The complaint accuses the group of entering the property armed with firearms and sharp weapons, firing to create panic, assaulting workers and security personnel, vandalising the project office and looting Tk25 lakh.
Police and the government, however, have described a land dispute -- rather than a confirmed extortion attempt against Salman -- as the apparent trigger.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said preliminary information showed that New Gini Properties and a retired senior military officer had been locked in a dispute over approximately 35 kathas of land in Manikdi.
A group allegedly acting for the other side went to the property at night in an attempt to take possession, damaging structures on the site, including the facility housing Salman’s studio, the minister said.
Salman himself has said he did not believe he was necessarily the intended target, but argued that the circumstances surrounding the dispute did not diminish the broader question of public safety.
Gunfire in a residential neighbourhood
The case filed by New Gini Properties director Md Saiful Islam Bhuiyan paints a picture of an organised armed assault.
According to the complaint, the attackers entered the project at around 11:20pm carrying shotguns, revolvers, chapatis, ramdas, daggers, iron rods and sticks.
It alleges that around 50 rounds were fired to spread panic, sending workers and security guards scrambling for safety.
Site engineer Md Parvez was allegedly assaulted, while security guard Syed Nazrul Islam was also attacked when he intervened.
The attackers allegedly fired another 10 rounds towards the main gate before entering the project office, vandalising it and breaking open a locker containing Tk25 lakh intended for construction-material purchases.
The allegations in the case have not yet been established in court.
Residents described hearing sustained gunfire, shouting and vandalism.
Munni Akter, who lives nearby, said residents were too frightened to leave their homes.
She said she saw people arriving in four or five pickup trucks before hearing gunshots, screaming and sounds of vandalism for nearly an hour.
Construction worker Sohel said workers had been sleeping when a large group stormed the site.
He alleged that CCTV cameras were smashed and workers were intimidated before their mobile phones and cash were taken.
Another worker, Muhin, estimated that 200-300 people were involved and said 50-60 gunshots could be heard. Workers alleged that 30-40 mobile phones and cash were taken from people at the site.
Salman challenges home minister
The attack initially drew national attention after Salman posted videos showing the devastation inside Brownfish Studio.
Furniture and equipment had been smashed, while Salman alleged that CCTV cameras and the surveillance server were also taken.
In his first response, Salman suggested the attackers may have been targeting the property owner rather than him and referred to what he had heard about possible extortion.
He subsequently broadened his criticism to the country’s law-and-order situation.
That prompted a response from Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, who called Salman’s allegation portraying the BNP as an extortionist party “sweeping.”
The minister said Salman had himself acknowledged that nobody had directly demanded money from him and argued that allegations should be backed by specific complaints.
Salahuddin also initially questioned whether Salman had filed a case.
Salman responded hours later, saying the minister had been given incorrect information.
He said he had gone to Cantonment Police Station on the night of the attack and remained there until around 4am while the case was filed.
“I, and the entire nation, ought to be asking you why the case wasn’t filed earlier,” Salman said in his response.
He argued that the central issue was not whether the underlying dispute involved land, extortion or people affiliated with any political party, but whether the state could protect citizens from an armed attack.
“The issue was safety and security,” he said.
‘Caught in the middle’
Salman has acknowledged that the attackers may not have known his studio was located on the property.
“Those who carried out the attack likely didn’t know this was my property,” he said after the incident.
He said he believed the underlying target was connected to the property dispute and that his studio was caught in the middle.
Police have offered a broadly similar preliminary assessment.
Cantonment police said the dispute involved New Gini Properties and a retired major general and that Salman’s studio was damaged during the resulting attack.
New Gini Properties Chairman Nazim Uddin Molla, however, told Dhaka Tribune that he had previously received threats and demands for extortion.
“They came on Saturday night and vandalised everything,” he said, alleging that the group had caused trouble in the area before.
No evidence establishing that allegation was available to Dhaka Tribune.
Four arrested
Cantonment police initially reported three arrests, but OC Mohammad Gias Uddin later told Dhaka Tribune that four people were in custody.
They included Shahriar Mahmud, whom police described as the alleged organiser, along with Md Mamun, Aslam and Munna.
Police said the men had been hired to participate in the attack and that operations were continuing to identify and arrest others.
The case names Shahriar Mahmud as the prime accused and alleges that the attack was carried out at his instigation and direction.
With competing claims surrounding the ownership dispute and allegations of extortion yet to be established, investigators must now determine who organised and financed an armed operation that witnesses say brought hundreds of people into a residential area of the capital, why firearms were used and whether the assault could have been prevented.
For Salman, those questions go beyond the destruction of his studio.
He said he could rebuild what he had lost, but argued that the greater concern was what an attack of this scale meant for people without his resources or public platform.