Armed assailants attack newsmen in Rajshahi
Armed assailants attacked an acting editor of a local daily in Rajshahi city yesterday, allegedly for uncovering illegal gambling activities.
The incident also left a staff reporter bullet-hit, while the acting editor's assistant was attacked earlier in the day, possibly by the same group.
Afterwards, police, with the assistance of locals, arrested five suspected attackers.
The acting editor of local daily Upochar, Nur-e-Islam Milon, also the joint secretary of Rajshahi Press Club, was injured after the assailants swooped on him with iron rods. He was later given first aid, said Amanullah, officer-in-charge of Boalia Police Station.
Ashik Iqbal Antor, a staff reporter and also Milon's nephew, was admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) with a bullet wound in his left abdomen and the acting editor's assistant Moazzem Hossain Liton was also admitted to the hospital.
According to Milon, the attack came after his newspaper published a news item on the daily's online edition yesterday under the headline, “Gambling spree in Rajshahi city”. The news included a video of gamblers' activity at a students' dormitory near Rajshahi Stadium.
“They attacked us because they were angry over the news item,” he told this correspondent.
The attacks began at 9:00am, with Liton being the first target.
Calling him out of his home, a group led by one Tareq, an alleged leader of a gambling ring, beat Liton up in the city's Shalbagan area. At one stage, they brought hot water from a tea stall nearby and poured it on him.
Liton was later admitted to RMCH. He told reporters that the attackers suspected him of assisting in the publication of the news.
Around 9:30am, the group attacked Milon's house in Sagarpara area of the city, but he was not home at the time. They broke into his house and ransacked several furniture. They shouted at his family members and threatened to shoot Nur at sight.
Around 11:30am, seven of the attackers caught Milon at a motorcycle garage in Ranibazar area and started beating him up with sticks and pipes.
Locals who witnessed the attack chased the assailants and later, police and locals managed to catch three of them -- Tareq, Ripon and Shawan -- from the scene.
After Tareq's attack, while Milon was recovering from the first attack at the motorcycle garage, another group of seven people, brandishing firearms, attacked him again.
“I was getting my motorcycle serviced at the garage and I could not move. I did not anticipate that they would open fire on me,” said Nur.
“They shot twice. They missed the first shot but the second one hit my nephew when he tried to save me.”
Locals caught two of the attackers -- Sajib with a pistol and Arif-- from the scene. They were later handed over to police.
Two separate cases were filed against the five arrested and four to five unnamed associates, said OC Amanullah.
Rajshahi Press Club announced a human chain on Sunday denouncing the attacks.
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