While the country was reeling from the shocking murder of a journalist in Gazipur on Thursday night, a video of a mob brutally torturing another journalist in the same district went viral on social media.
In both cases, the journalists were working to report extortion.
Anwar Hossain Sourav, 35, was beaten up and hit with bricks by 7-8 extortionists in front of the police while collecting news in Sahapara area on Wednesday afternoon.
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The attackers hit his face and head with a brick, like in the Mitford incident in the capital. Police members were nearby, but they did not stop the attackers, let alone arrest them.
He is now undergoing treatment in a hospital with serious injuries.
Anwar works as a staff reporter for the daily Bangladesher Alo in Gazipur. His mother, Anwara Sultana, has filed a written complaint with the Gazipur Sadar police station.
The case says the accused were collecting an average of Tk30-40 from auto-rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws in the Sahapara area of the city.
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When Anwara went to collect news on this issue, the accused, including Raktim, Sourav and Farid, came to know about it. Later, they created a mob of 15-16 people and attacked him. They took him behind a tea shop with the intention of killing him.
They also snatched two mobile phones and Tk26,250 in cash from Anwar.
Later, the police and local people came and rescued him in a half-dead state and admitted him to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital.
She said: โMy son is a journalist. He was brutally beaten without committing any crime. We are in the hospital with our son, but we are terrified.โ
Sadar police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mehedi Hasan said that they are working to arrest the accused.
On Thursday night, the daily Protidiner Kagoj reporter, Md Asaduzzaman Tuhin, was hacked and slaughtered in Eidgah Market area of Chandana Chowrasta, only a few hours after making a Facebook live on extortion from footpaths.
He did not make any comment on the policeโs inaction and negligence of duty.
English