The widely discussed 21 August grenade attack case allegedly saw former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman being implicated by two national dailies owned by Transcom Group—Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. Through fabricated narratives, the reinvestigation was directed to align with the conspirators’ objectives.

These newspapers were used by domestic and international groups to execute their agenda through the courts. Recently, discussions among crime and political analysts have revealed information about this sinister blueprint.

Not only that, but Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman reportedly guided the direction of the investigation. In an article published in Prothom Alo on 21 August 2008, he wrote: “According to Prothom Alo’s past investigations, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had prohibited the Defense Intelligence Directorate from conducting any inquiry into the 21 August grenade attack at that time. The former Prime Minister had directed her preferred military and civilian officials to conduct a biased investigation into the killings of 21 August.”

Another newspaper under Transcom Group, The Daily Star, was also allegedly involved in framing Tarique Rahman and BNP’s top leadership in the 21 August attack. The newspaper reportedly propagated the ‘Islamic militant’ theory and strategically linked Tarique Rahman to the attack.

On 26 October 2009, The Daily Star’s then-senior journalist, Zulfiqar Ali Manik, wrote a detailed report titled “It Was a Hawa Bhaban Plot”, where it was stated: “Former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu, Prime Minister’s Political Secretary Harris Chowdhury, a fugitive killer of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a top leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, two founders of militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI), and a leader of Al-Markazul Islami could not deny the involvement of BNP’s top leadership in the incident. In their statements, they revealed that the decision to carry out the attack was made in the presence of a top figure from Hawa Bhaban.”

The report further mentioned: “The BNP administration at the time was involved in dirty interference in many matters. Top BNP leaders, under the leadership of Tarique Rahman, Babar, and Aminul Haque, were allegedly supporting Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from 2004.”

These reports allegedly provided the Hasina government with all the recommendations to frame BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman in the grenade attack case.

After the Awami League came to power, the investigation into this case was reportedly influenced in various ways. It was also revealed that the investigation supervisor, Abdul Kahar Akand, had multiple meetings with reporters from these two newspapers during the probe.