CPJ demands release of Deepto TV's Satkhira correspondent Raghunath

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) demanded the immediate release of Deepto TV's Satkhira correspondent Raghunath Kha from jail.

In a statement sent last night, the international rights organisation alleged that Kha was electrocuted and beaten up in police custody.

Kha, a correspondent of the privately owned broadcaster Deepto TV and privately owned newspaper Dainik Projonmo Ekattor, was detained by plainclothes police officers around 11:00am on Monday, January 23, according to multiple news reports and a person familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.

"Kha was detained after reporting on a land dispute in the Khalishakhali area of the southwestern Satkhira district," said the CPJ statement.

Citing the source, CPJ said police arrested Kha and two others on allegations of their involvement in an attempted bomb blast in coordination with landless people in the area, and authorities initially denied that Kha was in custody.

"When the journalist appeared in court the following day, he was unable to stand properly and said that police severely beat him, electrocuted him, and threatened to kill him if he continued reporting on landless people," said CPJ in the statement.

The statement cited Beh Lih Yi, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator as saying, "Bangladeshi authorities' arrest and alleged maltreatment of journalist Raghunath Kha constitute only the latest attack on press freedom in the country, where law enforcement continues to retaliate against journalists with raging impunity. Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Kha, drop all cases against him, and conduct a swift investigation into claims that police physically abused him."

The statement said CPJ believes authorities targeted the journalist in retaliation for his reporting that highlighted the struggles of landless people in their conflict with land grabbers allegedly supported by police.