Senior journalist and political commentator Anis Alamgir was abruptly detained by Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) on Sunday evening in a chilling escalation of what critics describe as a state-orchestrated campaign to silence opposition voices.
The move, executed without an arrest warrant or formal charges, has ignited widespread outrage among press freedom advocates, who view it as emblematic of an emerging “mob culture” where social media accusations fuel arbitrary detentions under the Jamaat-influenced Yunus-led interim government.
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Hours before his detention, Alamgir posted a defiant Facebook status denouncing a coordinated smear campaign against him orchestrated by two expatriate YouTubers—Pinaki Bhattacharya and Elias Hossain—whom he accused of long-standing conspiracies to destabilise Bangladesh. He claimed the duo, along with their online amplifiers, were retaliating for his criticisms on television and attempting to falsely link him to the recent shooting of activist Sharif Usman Hadi.
Plainclothes Operation: Veteran War Journalist Taken from Gym
Alamgir, renowned for his frontline coverage of the 2003 Iraq War from Baghdad, was taken into custody around 7:30pm, exiting a gym in Dhaka’s affluent Dhanmondi neighbourhood. He informed media outlets himself via mobile phone: “I was taken from a gym in Dhanmondi. DB officials said their chief wants to speak with me.”
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By 8pm, he reached the DB headquarters on Minto Road, where he was held for questioning on unspecified matters, confirmed DB Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam. As of 2am Monday, no release had occurred, with authorities stating a decision would follow the interrogation.
Gym manager Arefin verified Alamgir’s visit but reported no uniformed officers on site, pointing to the use of plainclothes operatives—a method evoking memories of enforced disappearances under the previous Sheikh Hasina administration. The absence of due process has amplified claims of political retribution for Alamgir’s outspoken critiques of the Yunus government’s ties to Jamaat-e-Islami.
Pre-Detention Defiance: Alamgir’s Facebook Post Exposes Smear Campaign
In a Facebook status posted Sunday afternoon, Alamgir directly addressed the orchestrated attacks: “Two fugitive scoundrels who are YouTubers abroad [Pinaki Bhattacharya and Elias Hossain] have long been engaged in a conspiracy to destabilise Bangladesh. I have personally criticised their actions on at least five prominent television talk shows. For this reason, those scoundrels are now engaged in a planned smear campaign against me to exact revenge.”
He accused them of threatening TV channels and issuing veiled death threats—”a “direct criminal offense.” Alamgir lamented how “senseless individuals,” including a leader from a “new party,” were amplifying the disinformation for virality, falsely tying his routine activities to Hadi’s shooting.
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“I prayed for Hadi’s survival the moment he was shot,” Alamgir wrote, denying any enmity: “I have never spoken to him, never met him, and until his injury, I had never even mentioned his name.” He blamed Hadi’s political inexperience for surrounding himself with adversaries and accused online trolls of shielding real culprits while boosting the YouTubers’ “view-business.” Concluding defiantly: “Truth cannot be covered with lies. Time will give the answer.”
A Career Under Threat: From War Zones to Regime Critic
Anis Alamgir stands unmatched in Bangladeshi journalism, dubbed the nation’s sole “war journalist” for his embeds in conflict zones. Formerly with *Dainik Ajker Kagoj*, he delivered live reports from Baghdad amid U.S. bombings, championing secularism, the 1971 Liberation War ethos, and governmental accountability.
Lately, he has sharply criticised the Yunus interim government for its alliances with Jamaat-e-Islami—historically anti-independence—and failure to stem communal violence against minorities, including Hefazat-e-Islam-backed temple attacks and anti-Hindu/anti-India campaigns.
Senior journalist Masood Kamal, in a viral late-night video, condemned the detention as fascist regression. Recounting Alamgir’s calm call to reschedule an interview amid custody, Kamal praised his professionalism while warning: “This could be any of us.”
Drawing parallels to Hasina-era abductions, Kamal questioned the absence of warrants and accused authorities of enabling a “state-sponsored mob culture.” Online trolls, he said, label critics as Awami League agents, triggering police raids: “Social media tags are now arrest warrants.”
Broader Crackdown: Press Freedom Eroding Under Yunus
Alamgir’s case exemplifies wider repression. Human rights groups report at least 48 journalist attacks in early 2025. Yunus’s partnerships with Jamaat and Hefazat have allegedly emboldened extremists, fueling mob violence, disinformation, and framing dissent as blasphemy.
Social media split sharply: Pro-regime posts celebrated the detention as justice against “Awami dalals,” while critics decried it as an assault on speech during Victory Month. Lawyer Parvez Hashem stated: “No one can talk, write, or express views in Bangladesh today.”
Global monitors like CPJ and Amnesty International decry a “collapse in law and order,” with calls for UN intervention to safeguard elections.
Last week, the Canada-based Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG) said that 195 criminal cases were filed against journalists during the one-year period from August 2024 to July 2025 under the current interim government rule, marking an increase of more than 550% compared to the previous year.
Some 878 journalists faced various forms of harassment in the same period and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all fabricated cases against journalists and the release of those arrested.
False cases have proliferated: over 292 journalists have been implicated in wholesale criminal probes since August 2024, including charges of murder, genocide, and crimes against humanity linked to the 2024 protests.
At least 39 have been arrested, with 13 still imprisoned as of mid-2025, enduring prolonged remands without bail. Beyond the CPJ-highlighted quartet, notable detainees include veteran journalist Shahriar Kabir, arrested under anti-terrorism laws for discussing the 1971 Liberation War, and editors like Shyamal Dutta of Bhorer Kagoj, whose outlet was delisted in April 2025 amid attempts by BNP-backed journalists to seize control.
Over 1,000 journalists have lost jobs or resigned under pressure, more than 160 press accreditation cards and 83 press club memberships have been revoked, and media houses have been forcibly overtaken.
Financial coercion includes freezing 18 journalists’ bank accounts and probing 107 via the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit—tactics unseen under Hasina. Travel bans hit over 300, while 431 endured physical threats or violence.
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