Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed has described the allegation made by content creator Salman Muqtadir against BNP activists for vandalising his studio over extortion money as a sweeping allegation.

He said that there was a dispute between two parties over the land where the studio was located and the vandalism took place over a dispute involving the occupation and control of the land.

The home minister made the remarks while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday.

A content creator and influencer’s studio was vandalised on Saturday.

The victim said that ‘such incidents were very common in Bangladesh’ and described Bangladesh Nationalist Party as an ‘extortionist party’.

He alleged that the vandalism took place because he had refused to pay extortion money. He also made remarks about the home minister.

Asked about the matter, Salahuddin said, ‘He can say whatever he wants about me. This is democracy and freedom of speech. But my question is — did the gentleman who made the allegation in a Facebook Live file any case? He did not.’

The minister said, ‘At one point, the victim said that nobody had demanded extortion money from him. I have heard that he said he would have paid if anyone had demanded it. Exactly, this is in the audio. So, if nobody demanded extortion money from him and he says he would have paid if someone had demanded it, then there is no specific person identified. And then he says that BNP is an extortionist party. This is a sweeping allegation.’

The home minister said, ‘He has also pointed his finger at us. If he files a specific case, we can investigate it.’

Salahuddin said that the content creator had been victimised in the vandalism incident.

‘We have seen that he was victimised in this incident. We conducted a preliminary investigation. It was very brief, and a more detailed investigation needs to be carried out,’ he said.

He said that legal proceedings, including a case and a general diary, were underway.

‘A case is expected to be filed very soon. No case has been filed yet,’ he added.