Two journalists of a private television channel came under attack when they went to a trading house in Agargaon Taltola in the city to take the views of the management on allegations against the company.
Police, however, detained seven people, including the owner of Victor Trading Corporation in connection with the attack on Saiful Islam Jewel, the staff reporter of private television DBC News, and camera person Azad Ahmed.
The incident took place at around 1:00 pm on Tuesday when the two TV journalists went to the office of Victor Trading Corporation near Taltola Bazar to gather news about irregularities and corruption in the purchase of medical equipment.
Witnesses said Kawsar Bhuiyan, owner of Victor Trading Corporation, along with his men resorted to attack them and at one stage, they also forced the camera person to delete the footage they had captured.
Injured journalist Saiful Islam Jewel said that when they went there for collecting news, at first the camera person of DBC, Azad Ahmed, was beaten, the camera was vandalized and the video footage was deleted forcibly. Later, when they wanted the camera back, 10-12 men belonging to Kawsar brutally beat up Jewel and Azad. Both of them were seriously injured.
Colleagues of Saiful Jewel said that they were rescued from the spot and treated at Shaheed Suhrawardy Media College Hospital in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. A complaint has been lodged at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar police station in this regard.
Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) in a statement condemned the attack on the two journalists and demanded the government’s intervention to ensure examplorary punishment of the perpetrators.
CRAB’s President Mirza Mehdi Tamal and general secretary Asaduzzaman Biku, along with the leaders of the executive committee, expressed strong condemnation and concern over the attack on the two journalists. In addition, the leaders requested the intervention of the government to ensure that those concerned are immediately brought under the law and exemplary punishment for obstructing the professional work of journalists.
Source: United News of Bangladesh