PM’s press aide urges media restraint after cocktail blasts, bus fire reports

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Assistant Press Secretary KM Nazmul Haque has urged media outlets to exercise restraint in reporting a series of crude bomb explosions and a bus fire in Dhaka, warning that sensational coverage could fuel unnecessary public panic.

His remarks came after crude bombs exploded at several locations across the capital on Friday and a parked bus was set on fire in Kafrul, Mirpur.

Police reported explosions in multiple areas, including Jatrabari, Malibagh, Mohakhali and Agargaon. At least one rickshaw driver was injured in the Jatrabari blasts.

A Mirpur Super Link bus parked in front of Kafrul Police Station was also set ablaze late Friday. Police said the vehicle had been seized several days earlier following an accident and was being kept outside the station.

Haque said legal action against those involved in the incidents had already been initiated.

But he raised concern over how some news outlets were covering the developments.

“The way some media outlets are reporting the incidents appears to be overly dramatic and sensational,” Haque said.

Such coverage, he warned, could create “unnecessary panic and fear” among the public.

Haque said reports involving terrorism or violence should be handled responsibly, factually and with restraint.

The public should be informed about such incidents, he said, but reporting should not itself generate unnecessary alarm.

The explosions come amid heightened security concerns following a Sept. 11 flash procession by leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations in Gulshan.

Police said crude bombs were thrown during that incident, prompting officers to fire rubber bullets to disperse the gathering. Five unexploded crude bombs were later recovered.

Gulshan Police Station Sub-Inspector Md Mahbub Hossain subsequently filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act, naming 118 people and another 80 to 100 unidentified suspects.

Police had arrested 83 people in the case by Sept. 14, with 24 initially placed on remand.

The fallout from the Gulshan incident also reached the police administration. Gulshan Police Station chief Md Daud Hossain was withdrawn on Wednesday, followed hours later by the transfer of the division’s deputy commissioner, M Tanvir Ahmed.

Both orders cited administrative reasons.

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