Tight security at Dhanmondi 32 as four detained

Law enforcement agencies have tightened security in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi 32 in the capital Dhaka around the death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Four people have been detained as of Saturday afternoon.

Jubo League activist Arnab Das, 38, from Tangail was detained by police after arriving to pay tribute. Another Jubo League activist, Nipu Mia, 30, who came posing as a journalist, was also detained. Two further people have been held; their identities are not yet known. All four were sent to Dhanmondi Police Station.

Meanwhile, some youths who arrived intent on creating a mob and identified themselves as “July Warriors” fled in the face of protests from journalists and members of the public.

On August 5, 2024 angry students and members of the public set fire to Bangabandhu Bhaban, vandalised and looted it. From 4pm that day almost all the memorials to the brutal massacre of August 15, 1975 inside the building were demolished. Rare mementos of the Liberation War, books, papers and valuables kept there were burned or looted. Three other multi-storey buildings used as offices of the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust were also vandalised. 

A portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and stalls selling books and souvenirs in the open space beside Dhanmondi Lake in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban were destroyed. The privately owned Santu’s restaurant next to Bangabandhu Bhaban was vandalised and set alight, and several cars parked in front of various buildings were burned. 

The following morning, August 6, while trying to extinguish the fire, fire service personnel recovered at least four charred bodies from the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, surrounding buildings and Santu’s restaurant.

During the interim government another round of vandalism, arson and looting took place at Bangabandhu Bhaban on the night of February 5 last year. Excavators, cranes and bulldozers were brought in to demolish the remaining parts of Bangabandhu Bhaban, the three buildings in front and behind it, the high walls and the iron gates. For the next three or four days vandalism and looting continued with hammers and shovels.