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Police say they are trying to identify a masked suspect seen in CCTV footage
Published : 12 Apr 2025, 09:05 PM
Dhaka University authorities have registered a case naming unidentified people with alleged links to the Awami League, its affiliated organisations, and the Chhatra League over the arson attack on Pohela Boishakh parade motifs at the Faculty of Fine Arts.
These motifs were part of the “Barshabaran Ananda Shobhajatra”, a colourful procession that celebrates the Bengali New Year.
The case was lodged with Shahbagh Police Station on Saturday afternoon, its chief Md Khalid Mansur confirmed.
“We are working to identify the suspect seen in CCTV footage,” he said.
Earlier, the Shahbagh police had said CCTV analysis showed a suspicious young man entering the Fine Arts compound and setting fire to the installations.
The fire in the early hours of Saturday destroyed two key motifs made for the traditional parade -- the symbolic "face of fascism" and the "dove of peace".
Police believe the fire was “deliberate”.
In a Facebook post, Cultural Affairs Advisor Mostofa Sarwar Farooki blamed the attack on what he described as “allies of Hasina”.
Organisers had earlier announced on Friday that this year’s parade would feature large, medium, and small motifs.
Among the six large motifs, the “face of fascism” was planned to lead the parade.
The female-faced effigy featured prominent fangs and two sharp horns atop its head.
Fine Arts Associate Professor Md Israfil, referring to the security footage, said the suspect scaled the boundary wall, set the fire within 90 seconds, and left the scene the same way.
“We’ve spotted one person in the CCTV footage, caught on two or three of our cameras,” he added. “He was wearing a black T-shirt and had his face covered with a mask.”
The university has formed an investigation committee headed by Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman Khan, dean of the Faculty of Arts.
The pro-BNP teachers’ group White Panel has called the incident premeditated, pointing to the destruction of both “the face of fascism” and “the dove of peace”.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) SN Md Nazrul Islam said: "Prima facie, it seems that this was not accidental; someone intentionally did this. We are certain of this much."
