Protesters vandalise offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star

After news spread of the death of Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi, protesters ransacked the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar area around midnight on Thursday and set parts of the buildings on fire.

Around 30–35 staff members of The Daily Star took refuge on the rooftop after the first four floors of the office were engulfed in flames. Atiur Rahman, a graphic designer at the newspaper, told the Daily Sun that a group of miscreants had set the office ablaze, forcing employees to flee upstairs to save themselves.

Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel brought the fire under control around 1:40am on Friday and used a crane to rescue the trapped media workers, this correspondent reports. However, at around 2:38am, an unruly mob again began vandalising the office. Army personnel were later deployed in front of the building at about 3:10am.

Meanwhile, several hours after the arson attack on the Prothom Alo office, fire service members reached the scene shortly before 2:30am and began efforts to douse the flames.

Protesters also set fire to the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi 32.

Across the capital, demonstrations erupted at various locations over the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, with protesters demanding the arrest and punishment of those responsible. Several student organisations, including the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, brought out protest processions on the Dhaka University campus.