The police on Tuesday tightened security at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2025 after a mob attack on a stall at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka city on Monday.
The police said that the incident took place on Monday evening when publisher Shatabdi Vobo, proprietor of Sabysachi Publications, was confronted by a group of people who protested at the display of writer Taslima Nasrin鈥檚 book titled Chumban at their stall.
鈥榃e have temporarily closed the stall to control the situation,鈥� Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ramna Division deputy commissioner Masud Alam said, adding that the security of the fair area has been tightened after the incident.聽
The police said that a number of 627 police members were working at the venue with other law enforcement agencies.
Security checks at the entry points to the fair were stricter than other days, said Pulok Raj, a visitor to the fair.
On the 11th day, the number of visitors decreased compared to other days while a large number of people took photos of the stall, Raj added.
On Tuesday, Bangla Academy formed a seven-member probe committee asking it to submit its report on the mob attack on Sabysachi Publications at the fair in three days.
Director in-charge of the academy Mohammad Harun Rashid was made convener of the committee while director for management Mohammad Khorshed Alam was made member secretary of the investigation committee.聽
Chief adviser Muhammad Yunus strongly condemned the mob attack on the bookstall at the fair, said a press release issued by the Chief Adviser鈥檚 press wing on Monday night.
In two separate statements issued on Tuesday, the Socialist Party of Bangladesh and 124 writers, academics, artists and rights activists, including former Jahangirnagar University economics professor Anu Muhammad, lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua and Dhaka University associate professor Samina Luthfa also condemned the attack.
A total of 91 new titles hit the fair on Tuesday.
A discussion on Poetry of 2024 Mass uprising will be held on the academy premises on Wednesday.