Land grabbers beat up journo, video goes viral
A journalist of a local newspaper was assaulted by land grabbers in Barakhata area of Lalmonirhat's Hatibandha upazila on Sunday, police said.
A video clip where the journalist, Selim Shamrat, 25, is seen being beaten up mercilessly has gone viral on social media. A case was filed over the incident with Hatibandha Police Station last night, said Ershadul Alam, officer-in-charge of the police station.
Selim was attacked when he went to Barakhata area around 5:00pm on Sunday to gather information about a land grabbing incident. Alleged land grabbers Ali Reza Badal, 50, and his younger brother Taijul Islam Mukut, 45, along with their men, attacked him there, said the OC, quoting locals.
At one point, the attackers pushed Selim to the ground and started beating him up mercilessly. Locals rescued injured Selim and sent him to Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex. The attackers fled, he said.
Police raided different places to arrest the attackers, but no one was arrested till last night, said the OC.
The assaulted journalist is working as the Hatibandha correspondent of the local newspaper, Bahannor Alo.
Selim told The Daily Star that Badal and Taijul wanted to see Selim's identity card when he went to collect information there.
"They tried to snatch my identity card when I showed it to them," said Selim, adding that, "At one point, the land grabbers attacked me without any reason, pushed me to the ground, and started beating me mercilessly."
An witness named Mizanur Rahman told this paper that as soon as the journalist went to the spot, the alleged land grabbers and their men attacked him. Locals rushed to the spot and rescued the journalist. The attackers are notorious for grabbing land illegally in the area, he said.
Meanwhile, local journalists in Lalmonirhat yesterday demanded that the attackers be arrested in 24 hours.
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