Retired major general arrested over Manikdi attack

Retired Major General Golam Mohiuddin Chowdhury has been arrested in connection with an armed assault, vandalism and looting at New Guinea Properties near ECB Chattar in the capital's South Manikdi area, which also devastated the studio of prominent content creator Salman Muqtadir.

A team from the Detective Branch's Gulshan division apprehended Chowdhury, the fourth named accused in the case, at around 2:45 pm on Wednesday from a residence in Segunbagicha under Ramna police station. According to case documents and eyewitness accounts, a group of armed and masked men arrived in roughly five pickup vans between 10:30 pm and 11:30 pm on Saturday and allegedly stormed the premises while firing shots. Subsequently, the assailants allegedly assaulted site engineer Md Parvez, 28, and several security guards before ransacking offices, rooms and nearby flats.

Furthermore, the intruders reportedly looted cash, air conditioners, laptops, computer monitors, video-recording equipment, motorcycles, construction materials and cables. The studio of Salman Muqtadir was among the worst-affected areas, with furniture, musical instruments and costly equipment extensively damaged, whereas the property authorities alleged that around Tk1 crore had been stolen from their office. Accordingly, New Guinea Properties director Saiful Islam Bhuiyan filed a case with Cantonment police on September 27, naming 13 people and accusing a further 150-200 unidentified individuals under several sections of the Penal Code.

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Meanwhile, police and intelligence officials said the preliminary investigation points to a longstanding land dispute and a conflict over control of an access road and entrance to the property. Chowdhury allegedly owns land adjacent to New Guinea Properties and has reportedly been embroiled in a dispute over access to it. Thus far, seven people have been arrested, including the alleged key planners and named accused Mizanur Rahman, Shahriar Mahmud and Shah Alam Anik. Nevertheless, investigators are continuing their raids and interrogations in order to recover the weapons allegedly used and to identify the remaining perpetrators.