Dhaka: Prothom Alo, a leading Bengali daily, published a front page news story on November 2 claiming that murders, muggings, and banditry sharply increased in Dhaka in September and October was untrue and dangerously flawed, the Chief Adviser’s press wing said in a statement today. The statement was posted on the verified Facebook page of CA press wing – CA Press Wing Facts.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Prothom Alo claimed that 192 people were killed in Dhaka in the last two months, with at least 21 of them in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. The statement from the CA press wing refuted this, stating, “This news is untrue. It is also dangerously flawed and poorly fact-checked. It gives the impression that lawlessness has increased sharply in Dhaka immediately after the glorious mass student-led uprising in July and August.”
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed that the number of people killed in the city was 68, not 192, and 10 people were killed in Mohammadpur, not 21. In a rejoinder to Prothom
Alo, the DMP explained that the inflated death toll reported by Prothom Alo was due to the fact that many families of victims from the July-August uprising filed murder cases in September and October. Those murders occurred during the uprising, but they were recorded in police files in the subsequent months.
The Prothom Alo published the rejoinder of the news. However, the newspaper did not correct its news item despite the DMP’s clarification, which created a false impression about the state of law and order in the Bangladesh capital. The government expects that the Prothom Alo will update its news item online in line with the DMP clarification as a responsible newspaper, the CA press wing said.
The interim government and the police authorities are committed to improving the law and order situation throughout the country, including the capital, according to the statement.