Jamal Uddin was allegedly targeted for reporting on a local drug-smuggling syndicate.
(Media Watch/IFEX) – A journalist was hacked to death at Sharsha Upazila in Jessore district on the night of Friday 15 June 2012, allegedly for reporting on a local drug-smuggling syndicate. The victim, Jamal Uddin, 33, was a correspondent for the Jessore-based Bangla daily Gramer Kagoj.
Officer-in-Charge Faruque Hossain of Sharsha Police Station said that Tota Miah, the leader of a drug-running syndicate, and his 10 henchmen are believed to have kidnapped Jamal from a tea stall at Kashipur Bazar at around 11:00pm, reported Media Watch’s correspondent in Benapole.
The assailants took the journalist to a nearby place where they gouged out one of his eyes, slashed veins on his legs and hacked him indiscriminately. They fled the scene as neighbours came after hearing Jamal’s shout for help.
The journalist died on the way to Jessore Medical College Hospital.
The police later found a bloodstained towel and a machete at Tota’s house and arrested his wife, Lata Begum. Tota, however, was at large as of 10:00pm on 16 June. A murder case has been filed.
The OC said that a few months ago, Jamal filed a general diary (complaint) after Tota issued death threats against him for the journalist’s stories on drug smuggling.
