Desk Report:
Daily Kalbela’s Upazila Correspondent Amanullah Aman was attacked in the UNO’s office for publishing news about Khetlal in Joypurhat. The incident took place at 5 pm on Tuesday in the office of the Khetlal Upazila Executive Officer in Joypurhat.
According to eyewitnesses, Upazila Executive Officer Sanjida Chowdhury was recently exchanging views with journalists to promote various advertisements of the upazila administration. During the exchange meeting, Khetlal Upazila BNP General Secretary Abu Bakkar Siddique entered the Upazila Executive Officer’s office with his team and asked the journalists to leave. At that time, the journalists said that they were talking to UNO about a matter and would talk to you later.
But instead of paying attention to this, the BNP leader, Upazila Correspondent Amanullah Aman of Daily Kalbela was attacked and abused for publishing news about corruption in the extraction of soil and sand from a government pond. At that time, some BNP workers and supporters who came with the BNP leader from behind attacked the Kalbela Upazila representative in front of the journalists and started punching him. At that time, the Upazila Executive Officer informed the Ketlal Police Station, and the police arrived at the scene, rescued the injured journalist and admitted him to the Kalai Upazila Health Complex.
Nazrul Islam, the president of the Khetlal Upazila Press Club and the Khetlal correspondent of the Daily Karatoya newspaper, who witnessed the incident, said that while Khetlal was exchanging views on an issue with the Upazila Executive Officer, the BNP leader suddenly entered there and attacked journalist Amanullah at one point while talking to the journalists.
Journalist Amanullah Aman, who was the victim of the attack, said that I had previously published a news story against Upazila BNP General Secretary Abubakar Siddique in the Kalbela newspaper under the headline “BNP leader sold government pond soil”, due to which they took me to the UNO’s room in front of him and beat me up with some people including Abubakar Siddique with country-made weapons.
After that, when the police arrived, they stopped me in front of the police station and beat me up again, snatching everything from my mobile phone, ID card, wallet, and driving license. However, BNP leader Partha recovered my lost belongings and submitted them to Khetlal police station, and my colleagues brought them from the police station.
Abu Bakkar Siddique, the general secretary of the accused upazila BNP, said that BNP leader Siddique denied the allegations of attack on journalist Aman and said that some boys only had an argument with Aman in the UNO room. He claimed that no beating or attack took place there and that he himself was present and stopped the situation. Stating that the leaders of the Press Club were present there at the time of the incident, he said that later the police came and took Aman from there.
In this regard, Khetlal Upazila BNP President Khaledul Masud Anjuman said that the fight in the UNO room was not at all justified. Efforts will be made to resolve the matter locally.
When contacted on mobile phone, Upazila Executive Officer Sanjida Chowdhury did not answer the phone.
Inspector (Investigation) of Khetlal Police Station Abdul Karim said,
After receiving the news of the attack on journalist Aman, we immediately reached the spot (UNO office). There, he was arguing with local journalists and others and a tense situation was going on. We went and calmed the situation and took Aman out of the Upazila Parishad premises under police security. At that time, an incident of his mobile being taken away occurred. However, no written complaint or case has been filed with the police station in this regard so far.
Meanwhile, the attack on journalist Aman has seen strong reactions among local journalists.
Meanwhile, Kalai Press Club General Secretary Advocate Nafiut Zaman Talukder has strongly condemned and protested the attack on journalist Amanullah Aman. He protested that the main culprits involved in this incident should be brought to justice within the next 24 hours.