Court sends four Sakhipur journalists to jail in extortion case filed by BNP leader after they filmed drug use

Four journalists in Sakhipur, Tangail, have landed in trouble with a local BNP leader after filming a drug-use session. On Saturday afternoon they were produced before a court in an extortion case, and the court ordered them sent to jail.

The arrested journalists are Abdur Razzak Sujon, NTV Online's Sakhipur-Kalihati upazila correspondent; Morshed Khan, Sakhipur correspondent of Dainik Manab Kantha; Sheikh Monir, online in-charge of local weekly Sakhipur Barta; and Sanim Mia, Sujon's assistant. Police took them to court in handcuffs on Saturday afternoon.

The incident began on Friday afternoon. According to the journalists and local residents, the four had gone to Deobari Bazar in the upazila's Dariapur union to gather information on a rape allegation against local man Nazrul Islam. A local elder then tipped them off about drug use in a neighbouring house, and the journalists filmed people smoking cannabis.

Afterwards, the wife of one of the drug users phoned local Jubo Dal leader Zahid Hasan. Zahid took the journalists to the bazaar and detained them with more than two hundred local people. Police went to the spot and rescued the journalists, but they were held until 12:30am; late at night police brought them to Sakhipur police station.

On Saturday morning, Fazlur Rahman Fazlu, joint general secretary of Dariapur union BNP and president of the Deobari Bazar traders' association, filed an extortion case against the four journalists as the plaintiff.

Plaintiff Fazlur Rahman Fazlu said, 'I heard the journalists took 70,000 taka in extortion from the drug users and let them go. Locals then detained them. I filed the case on behalf of the local people.' But he could not give a satisfactory answer when asked why the drug users were not made accused in the case.

While being taken to court, NTV Online correspondent Abdur Razzak Sujon told reporters, 'The drug users tried to manage us. When we refused, they forcibly stuffed 8,000 taka into the pocket of one of our assistants and raised the extortion allegation. A local BNP leader of the area is also involved in this.'

Sakhipur police station inspector (investigation) Mohammad Azharul Islam said the case alleges both demanding and collecting extortion money. However, he too could not satisfactorily answer why the person from whom the money was allegedly collected did not become the plaintiff.

That the plaintiff in the case is a BNP leader has sparked discussion and criticism over the incident.