‘Case was filed to harass us’

Many of the 26 journalists accused in an attempted murder case filed by a pro-BNP lawyer in Chattogram have alleged that the charges were based on distorted facts.

Rezaul Islam, a member of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum's Chattogram unit, lodged the case with a Chattogram court on May 13.

The court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation to probe the case against 37 individuals, including the journalists, on charges of an assault on Rezaul on May 1, 2025. Rezaul also alleged that the accused had abducted and mugged him.

Among the 11 other accused, six were labelled in the case statement as "Awami terrorists". Rezaul said in the case statement that all the accused are affiliated with the Awami League, Jubo League, and their associated organisations. They were involved in extortion, murder, and other criminal activities, and they attacked protesters during the July uprising, he alleged.

The accused had repeatedly threatened him to withdraw the cases he filed on behalf of the families of some of the victims of the July atrocities, Rezaul said.

Describing the alleged attack on him in the case statement, Rezaul said he was on his way to a Sramik Dal programme when he saw the accused were assaulting a member of the organisation near the Jamiatul Falah Mosque gate.

When he approached the scene, the accused questioned him about filing the July killing cases, attacked him, and snatched Tk 30,000 and a mobile phone from him, he wrote in the case statement.

He also alleged that the accused hurled a crude bomb at him with the intention to kill, injuring his eye. The accused then tried to abduct him by forcing him into a microbus. However, they fled when pedestrians came to his aid upon hearing his screams for help and the sound of the explosion, the lawyer said in the case statement.

Police later took him to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Rezaul also identified himself in the case statement as a member of the BNP's Legal Committee for Chattogram Uttar, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and United Lawyers' Front.

Chattogram Union of Journalists (CUJ) protested against the case and demanded a fair investigation.

In a statement, CUJ President Reaz Hayder and General Secretary Sabur Shuvo said that Rezaul, in a Facebook post on April 30, threatened to foil a picnic event organised under the banner of "Karmoroto Sangbadik" on May 1. Both Reaz and Shuvo are among the journalists accused in the case.

Jai Jai Din reporter Khorshed Alam Shamim, another accused, told this newspaper that a group of eight to nine people, including Rezaul, approached the picnic bus near Premier University and took away the keys from the driver as some of the picnic participants were waiting for the others to come.

When Pradip Shil, another journalist accused in the case, and Khorshed protested and asked Rezaul to return the keys, Rezaul and his associates assaulted Pradip, said Khorshed.

"During the attack, a group of 50 to 60 people gathered under the Lalkhan Bazar flyover. When we sought help, we realised these people were part of the same group. They started chasing us. Pedestrians, seeing the commotion, intervened. With the pedestrians' help, Rezaul and one of his associates were detained. During the melee, pedestrians punched them," he said.

Police later came and took Rezaul and his associate to Khulshi Police Station, he added.

CUJ Secretary Sabur said, "We have digital evidence showing who sent Rezaul and the gang to disrupt the journalists' event. He filed a false case to divert attention from the real incident."

Several journalists said they were nowhere near the scene that day and described the case as a move to harass them.

Abdullah Al Mamun, a Samakal reporter and one of the accused, said, "I wasn't even at the scene that day, yet my name appears in the complaint. The lawyer deliberately implicated me."

Channel 24 reporter Rony Dutta, Bdnews24.com reporter Uttam Sen Gupta, and Dainik Amader Somoy's Chattogram bureau in-charge Hamid Ullah also said they were not present on the spot on that day.

The other journalists accused in the case include CUJ Joint Secretary Omar Faruk, Jugantor's Chattogram Bureau Chief Shahidullah Shahriar, Kalbela's Chattogram Bureau Chief Saidul Islam, and Prothom Alo photojournalist Jewel Shil.

When asked about the allegation that a crude bomb was hurled at Rezaul, Kotwali Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Abdul Karim said, "No such incident was reported in the area under my jurisdiction. We heard about a scuffle where some people snatched keys from a bus driver and one journalist lodged a written complaint detailing the incident on May 1 night."

Khulshi Police Station OC Aftab Hossain said police took Rezaul and another person to the police station, where Rezaul introduced himself as a lawyer and claimed he was beaten up by a mob.

"But he did not mention who beat him at that time and why. Later, we released him for treatment at the hospital," OC Aftab said.

Contacted via phone on Wednesday, Rezaul hung up after saying, "I'm with the doctor and not feeling well. I will talk to you later."

He did not respond to calls later. Multiple attempts to contact Imtiaz Reza Chowdhury, the lawyer for Rezaul, were unsuccessful.