Death of Abrar: Prothom Alo editor among 9 indicted, Anisul acquitted

A Dhaka court today framed charge against Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman among nine others in a case filed over the death of Dhaka Residential Model College student Nayeemul Abrar Rahat in a Kishor Alo programme. 

Judge KM Imrul Kayesh of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court also acquitted Kishor Alo Editor Anisul Haque, Somoy TV reports.

The other accused in the case are- Senior Assistant Editor Mahitul Alam, Prothom Alo Head of Event and Activation Kabir Bakul, Executive Shahporan Tushar, Shubhashish Pramanik, and four involved in the power supply of the event - Jasim Uddin and Mosharraf Hossain, Sujan and Kamrul Hawladar.

On 1 November last year, ninth-grader Rahat, a student of Dhaka Residential Model College died of electrocution during an anniversary programme of Kishor Alo, a supplement of the Prothom Alo for young readers, on the school premises.

The 14-year-old boy was taken to the Universal Medical College and Hospital in Mohakhali, 45 minutes after the incident occurred, although the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital was on the opposite side of the venue.

Five days after the death of the ninth-grader Abrar, his father Mujibur Rahman on November 6, 2019, filed the case with the court accusing Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman, also the publisher of Kishor Alo, and some others.

On the same day, the court ordered to exhume Abrar's body for autopsy.

Simultaneously, the court ordered the merger of the new case with the case of unnatural death in the incident, and directed the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station to submit a report after investigation.