BSS, 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 on Tuesday.

The statement was posted on the verified Facebook page of CA press wing – CA Press Wing Facts.

Prothom Alo claimed that 192 people were killed in Dhaka in the last two months, while at least 21 of them were killed in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.

“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 statement read.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed that the number of people, who were 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 three times more deaths claimed in the Prothom Alo’s news item are due to the fact that many families of the victims of the July-August uprising filed murder cases in September and October. Those murders took place during the uprising, but they were shown in police records in September and October.

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.