Cumilla: Cumilla’s Chandina Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land), Faisal Al Noor, has been removed from his post after an incident involving the handcuffing of two journalists over a video recording dispute.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Faisal was withdrawn from his role and reassigned to the office of the Divisional Commissioner in Sylhet as a Senior Assistant Commissioner for future posting. This decision followed a government notification issued by the Ministry of Public Administration.
The two journalists involved in the incident were Russel Sarkar, a correspondent for Daily Manab Zamin, and Abdul Alim, a correspondent for both Face the People and the local newspaper Amar Shohor in Cumilla. Public outrage ensued after a photo of the journalists in handcuffs circulated on social media, leading to protests from local media personnel.
Abdul Alim explained that the conflict arose over his cousin’s land registration case, which had been delayed by Faisal Al Noor for a year. The issue escalated when the journalists visited Chandina to attend a scheduled hearing. Alim recounted that around 1:45 pm, upon inquiring about the hearing, Faisal became agitated and mistreated them. An attempt to record the interaction led to the police being called, resulting in both journalists being handcuffed and taken to the police station.
Despite identifying themselves as journalists, Alim reported that they faced further mistreatment at the station, where their photos and videos were deleted. They were also coerced into signing a statement agreeing not to pursue the matter further.