Attack on journo, 22 jailed

A court here yesterday sentenced 22 people to three months' imprisonment for assaulting a local journalist in Bogra Railway Station area on Wednesday.

Police arrested the attackers from the station area at night.

The victim, Mahfuz Mandol, district correspondent of The Daily Independent and staff correspondent of The Daily Inqilab in Bogra, is now undergoing treatment at Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMCH).

Police said Mahfuz went to the station premises and assisted Government Railway Police (GRP) to nab Jahanara Begum, a member of a pickpocket gang, who allegedly mugged money from a relative of the journalist a few days back.

Later, a mobile court fined Jahanara Tk one thousand.

Following the verdict, a gang allegedly loyal to the convicted woman attacked Mahfuz while he was returning from the spot. The gang members beat him mercilessly with bamboo sticks, leaving him critically injured.

Hearing screams, locals rescued Mahfuz and admitted him to SZMCH, said Aslam Hossain, sub-inspector of Sadar Police Station. 

The arrestees were produced before a mobile court led by Bogra Executive Magistrate Mobashwer Alam, who sentenced them to three months' imprisonment.

The court also fined them Tk 5 thousand. In default, they are to suffer three months more in jail, the SI added.