(Media Watch/IFEX) – The following is a Media Watch press release: Another journalist escaped a kidnapped attempt last night (6 May 2001) in the South Western district of Kushtia. The kidnappers targeted Nazmul Imam, district correspondent for Manavjamin, as he was returning from the office of the local daily Kushtia to his courtpapra’s home. At […]
(Media Watch/IFEX) – The following is a Media Watch press release:
Another journalist escaped a kidnapped attempt last night (6 May 2001) in the South Western district of Kushtia. The kidnappers targeted Nazmul Imam, district correspondent for Manavjamin, as he was returning from the office of the local daily Kushtia to his courtpapra’s home. At around midnight, close to the BARO SHARIF DARBAR, a masked gang of eight to ten individuals stopped his vehicle (a rickshaw). They approached Imam and ordered him to follow them. Imam noticed that a motorbike was parked nearby, in a dark area. The kidnappers pushed him towards that area, but the journalist struggled and tried to run in the opposite direction. One of the terrorists tried to stab Imam with a sharp knife, but the journalist ran and managed to reach the local police station. Police officers escorted him to his home.
Imam recently wrote a report in Manavjamin about a local terrorist group, a drug smuggler and underworld activities. This most likely explains the plan to kidnap and kill the journalist.
Local journalists and members of civil society demanded an immediate inquiry into the incident and the punishment of the journalist’s attackers. This is the fourth attack on the press in one week.
