Police say that journalist Md Asaduzzaman Tuhin was hacked to death for recording a video of a public assault on a person in Gazipur.
Law enforcers came to the conclusion after scrutinising CCTV footage from the area around the time of the incident and taking the statements of witnesses, said Rabiul Islam, deputy commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police, reports bdnews24.com.
Tuhin, 32, was the Gazipur correspondent for the daily Pratidin Kagoj newspaper. He lived in a rented flat with his wife and two children in Gazipur’s Chandana. Alongside journalism, he also worked as a representative of a pharmaceutical company.
On Thursday night, a group of attackers hacked him to death and slit his throat in front of the Eidgah Market in the Chandana Chowrasta area.
Describing the incident, Tuhin’s older brother Md Selim said that Tuhin was headed home from the Chandana Chowrasta when six to seven men began to chase him with machetes and knives. He ran to the shop of Khairul Islam, a tea and beverage vendor in the Eidgah Market, to try and hide.
But his attackers followed him and stabbed him in the chest, neck, shoulder and back with sharp weapons. He died on the spot.
Selim said, “There were many people in the area at the time of the incident as the local factories had just closed for the day. But no one came forward to save Tuhin because they were scared. After killing my brother, the criminals left in a hurry.”
Md Shamim Hossain, a friend of Tuhin’s and the metropolitan correspondent for the daily newspaper Nobochetona, said he had been with him just before the attack. He informed Bason Police Station of the attack immediately after it happened.
Shamim said, “We were walking together and saw a woman harassing a man. The man hit the woman and, immediately, several criminals with sharp weapons slashed at him. He ran and fled.”
“Journalist Tuhin saw the incident, ran towards it and began filming. When they noticed they were being filmed, the criminals chased Tuhin. Tuhin tried to run away, but the criminals caught him and hacked him to death in public and fled.”
GMP Deputy Commissioner Rabiul said, “Upon receiving the report, the police quickly reached the spot. Information about the incident was collected from locals, as was CCTV footage from the surrounding area.”
According to a review of the CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts, it seems a man named Badsha Mia got into an argument with a woman at the Chandana Chowrasta intersection around 7pm.
“Badsha Mia then hit the woman. Then, a group of criminals, taking the woman’s side, struck Badsha Mia with a sharp machete, and he ran away. Journalist Tuhin was recording the incident on his mobile phone from the side of the road.”
Rabiul said, “The criminals saw Tuhin and asked him to delete the video. When he refused, the criminals chased him. Tuhin began to run, and the terrorists followed him.
“At one point, the criminals hacked at him with a sharp weapon near a shop in front of the Mosque Market in the Chandana Chowrasta area and left after confirming Tuhin’s death.”
The police official said that Badsha hailed from Sherpur, and he worked at a local Rose Sweater factory. He has been admitted to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital after suffering a serious injury during the attack.
Police added that the woman Badsha had been arguing with was part of a criminal gang and lured people into romantic relationships before robbing them with the help of the other gang members.
Police also said that the woman with whom Badsha Mia had an argument is involved in a ring of people who are involved in a scheme to rob people through terrorists.
Initially, locals had said that Tuhin was attacked after he had streamed an incident of extortion on Facebook Live.
But police say that this was not an extortion case and that Tuhin was attacked because he had taken a video involving the woman.
Tuhin`s Facebook profile does not have a livestream, video, or report related to extortion. However, he regularly posted about the various problems and sufferings faced by people living in the Chandana Chowrasta area.
He uploaded a one-minute and five-second video of the area on Thursday evening.
The caption reads: “People cross the road willy-nilly”.
He had uploaded two more photos and a video before that.
Shaheen Khan, chief of Bason Police Station, said that Tuhin’s body has been sent to Gazipur’s Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Police are also collecting footage and evidence.
They are being analysed and efforts are being made to determine the cause of the murder and to arrest those involved, Shaheen added.
