A case has been filed against 100 individuals, including former Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud and Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, for abusing a journalist.
The case was filed on Sunday in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Shahriar Iqbal in Chattogram. Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, the former Rangunia correspondent of Prothom Alo, filed the case as plaintiff, citing at least six incidents of alleged abuse that occurred between 2010 and 2014.
According to the case statement, the plaintiff is a professional journalist with no affiliation to any political party. He began his career as a Rangunia correspondent for Prothom Alo in 2000. Throughout his career, Khalil became an adversary to certain corrupt individuals, terrorists, and extortionists involved in illegal activities such as hill cutting, sand smuggling, alcohol and timber trafficking, illegal brick kilns, extortion, and illegal land grabbing due to his unbiased reporting and standing up for the common, innocent, and oppressed people.
The case accuses 100 individuals in six different incidents. Among the accused are Dr. Hasan Mahmud, former Foreign Minister; Khaled Mahmud; Ershad Mahmud; Tanvir Azam Siddiqui, former Upazila Executive Officer of Rangunia and current Joint Secretary of the Local Government Ministry; Hasan Ali, former Upazila Engineer of Rangunia and current Executive Engineer of LGED, Chattogram; M Manjur Morshed, former Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rangunia Police Station; Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman; and News Editor Lazzat Enab Mohsin. Additionally, 30 to 40 unidentified individuals have been listed as accused.
The court has directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the case. Advocate Jamir Uddin, the lawyer representing the plaintiff, confirmed the filing of the case.
