Four local journalists in Sakhipur upazila of Tangail have been arrested and sent to jail following an extortion lawsuit filed by a local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The incident unfolded after the reporters allegedly filmed individuals consuming narcotics in the Deobari area of Dariapur union on Friday night, 13 November.
The arrests have triggered widespread debate and criticism across the local media community and civil society, raising serious questions about press freedom and the influence of local political figures in rural dispute resolutions.
Those remanded in custody are Abdur Razzak Sujon, the Sakhipur correspondent for NTV Digital; Morshed Khan, local correspondent for the Daily Manobkantha; Sheikh Monir, online in-charge of the weekly Sakhipur Barta; and Sujon’s assistant, Sanim Mia. Police produced the four men before a local court in handcuffs on Saturday afternoon, where the magistrate ordered them to be sent to prison.
According to statements from the detained journalists and their family members, the group had initially travelled to Deobari Bazar on Friday evening on a routine reporting assignment. They were investigating an informal village arbitration—locally known as a shalish—concerning a rape allegation against a man named Nazrul. The reporters gathered that local elders, or matabbors, had mediated an out-of-court settlement worth 280,000 Taka. Under the terms of this extrajudicial arrangement, the survivor was allocated 200,000 Taka, while the mediating elders reportedly pocketed the remaining 80,000 Taka.
While covering this story, one of the local elders tipped off the journalists about ongoing drug consumption at an adjacent residence. Acting on the information, the reporters went to the house and began filming four individuals who were allegedly smoking cannabis.
The situation escalated rapidly when the homeowner’s wife telephoned a local Jubo Dal leader named Zahid. Arriving at the scene, Zahid allegedly marched the four journalists to the local marketplace and summoned a crowd of roughly 200 to 300 people. Witnesses and family members claim the crowd formed a hostile mob, detaining and attempting to harass the media workers.
Upon receiving news of the commotion, officers from the Sakhipur Police Station intervened, rescued the journalists from the crowd, and took them into protective custody at the station. A series of prolonged meetings reportedly took place at the police station throughout the night to determine the fate of the detained reporters.
By Saturday morning, Fazlur Rahman Fazlu, joint general secretary of the Dariapur union unit of the BNP and president of the upazila merchants’ association, formally lodged an extortion case against the four journalists. Local reporters and relatives of the accused have pointed out a glaring omission in the police complaint: while the journalists face severe charges of extortion, the case dossier makes no mention of the individuals caught consuming illegal narcotics on camera.
