Popular content creator Salman Mohammad Muqtadir woke up to devastating news on Saturday night. His studio, tucked away in the New Gini Condominium City near ECB Chattar in Dhaka, was stormed by an armed mob. What followed was chaos. Gunfire, looting, and destruction left the place in ruins.
According to the Officer in Charge of Cantonment Police Station, two people have been detained from the scene, and the reason behind the attack is still being investigated. Local residents described a terrifying scene. A large group, some reports say around a hundred people while others put the number closer to two hundred, arrived in multiple pickup trucks and forced their way into the under construction residential area. Many carried homemade weapons. CCTV cameras were smashed on the spot, and several people were injured in the chaos. Daily Sun
Salman was not even in Dhaka when it happened. He was in Chattogram at the time of the attack and found out about the damage only after the fact. Once he saw the state of his studio, he decided to go live on Facebook straight away, camera in hand, walking through the wreckage. Daily Sun
What he said in that video is what really caught everyone’s attention. Instead of breaking down, he stayed remarkably calm, almost cracking jokes about the whole situation. He said the video was made specially for Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, telling him not to worry at all because, in his words, this is just normal in Bangladesh, which is why he was smiling through it.
He then turned his attention to the bigger picture, talking about how hard it is to do anything meaningful in the country if you don’t flatter the right people, don’t have backup, don’t follow a political party, and don’t have money for security. According to him, if any of that is missing, this is simply what happens to you.
He didn’t hold back when addressing the people he believed were behind the attack either. Salman accused local men linked to BNP of carrying out the vandalism, and made it clear that no amount of extortion or intimidation could take away his dream. He said their looting and corruption was the extent of what they were capable of, nothing more.
As for the motive, the story gets more complicated. Reports suggest the attack followed extortion demands made to the landowner of the property, which were reportedly not met. Salman himself said he personally was never approached for money, and that the attackers may not have even realized whose studio they were destroying. He speculated that the dispute was actually between the landowner and a local figure, possibly tied to political rivalry, though this has not been independently confirmed. The Business Standard
Despite the destruction, Salman ended his message on a note of resilience. He said his feet were planted firmly enough that he could laugh his way through making that video and still walk away standing. His final words were aimed not at the Home Minister, but at ordinary people across Bangladesh, a reminder that the video was really for them.
Investigations into the attack are still ongoing, and police have promised more details once the detained suspects are questioned.