Savar Correspondent:
Daily Jaya Zaydin newspaper journalist Ali Reza Raju has suffered a mental breakdown after being kidnapped and stripped naked for reporting on drug dealers and extortionists in Savar, and the video went viral on social media.
He was picked up from the street in public, locked in a torture cell on the second floor of a building for four hours, his hands, feet and face tied, and subjected to barbaric torture in a medieval style. After the torture, all his clothes were removed and stripped naked and the video was recorded. He was rescued in a seriously injured condition and admitted to a private hospital.
Although a case was filed against the terrorists in this incident, the police could not arrest anyone. On the contrary, it has been alleged that the terrorists are threatening the victim’s family to withdraw the case.
Amidst the ongoing joint operation to arrest gunmen, extortionists and terrorists across the country, the accused are roaming around in Birdarpa. This is increasing anger among the victims and local journalists.
The incident of torture took place on Tuesday (September 9) night after he was taken from Hemayetpur area under Savar police station and detained in Joynabari area.
The victim journalist Ali Reza Raju is the son of Shamsur Rahman of Jadavpur village of Sharsha police station in Jessore district. He said that a few days ago, I published several news stories against extortionists and drug dealers in Hemayetpur area of Savar. The criminals got angry with me because of this. On the night of September 9, after collecting professional information, as soon as I reached Hemayetpur bus stand on my way home, the notorious wholesale drug dealer of Hemayetpur, Firoz Hossain alias Guti Firoz (40), and his gang of terrorists attacked me.
Before I knew it, Saddam Hossain (35), a close associate of Fakhrul Alam Samar, the absconding chairman of Tentuljhora Union Parishad, accused in the murder of two dozen students, led by Firoz, Mehedi Hasan Manik alias Khamchi Manik (45), a close associate of Manjurul Alam Rajib, the absconding chairman of Savar Upazila Parishad, accused in the murder of two dozen students, Rubel alias Haldi Rubel (40), Sagar Hossain alias Fitting Sagar (40), Delwar Hossain alias Kazi Delwar (35) and Zakir Hossain alias Fancy Zakir (29) took me to the torture cell of Guti Firoz on the roof of a two-story building adjacent to Joynabari Primary School in Hemayetpur. They kept me there for about four hours, tied my hands, feet and face together, and beat me repeatedly with sticks. After the torture, they stripped me naked and filmed me on a mobile phone. At one point, people around me heard my screams from the severe beating. They rescued me and took me to the hospital.
I was undergoing treatment in the hospital for a few days. In the meantime, last Monday (September 15), the criminals jokingly spread my naked video on the social media Facebook. When the naked video recorded by the terrorists went viral, I broke down mentally. Later, I filed a complaint with the police station and after 10 days of initial investigation, the police accepted the case. Although 6 days have passed since the case was accepted, no accused has been arrested so far. Since the terrorists are influential, they are threatening me and my family members to withdraw the case.
Expressing gratitude to the police for accepting the case and starting the investigation after the incident, local journalist leaders said that humans have long since defeated any violent animal in their ferocity. This barbaric incident is another example of that. He could have committed suicide, we needed to do something about it, but unfortunately, some of our colleagues have tried to provide shelter to the criminals.
We cannot afford to give in to these monsters. We need to come out of the long-standing culture of impunity. The naked video of journalist Ali Reza Raju has come to the fore without asking. We are journalists, our job is to publish news. It is shameful to think of ourselves as human beings in such incidents due to publishing news. We want exemplary punishment for the inhumane people involved in this incident. This should not be buried under the cover of any new incident. Journalists have requested the police to arrest the accused and bring them under the law.
The investigating officer of the case, Sub-Inspector (SI) of Savar Model Police Station, Abul Kalam Azad, said, we are collecting CCTV footage from the scene and the surrounding area. The arrest drive is continuing to catch the criminals, efforts are being made to seize the mobile phones used by the accused after arresting them, everything will come out after forensics.
Savar Model Police Station Investigation OC Ashiq Iqbal confirmed the case. He said, “It is clear that after torturing journalist Ali Reza Raju, a nude video was recorded and circulated on the internet. We have started a serious investigation and operation into the incident. The accused are absconding, but the criminals involved will be brought to justice soon.”