Journalist Asaduzzaman murder: Cases filed against unidentified people, 5 held

A case was filed over the killing of journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin, who was hacked to death in Gazipur on Thursday night. 

The victim’s elder brother, Md Selim, lodged the case against unidentified people with the city’s Basan police station on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, police detained five suspects. However, none of the people seen in CCTV footage carrying weapons have yet been arrested.

Regarding this, Basan police station officer-in-charge (OC) Shahin Khan told Prothom Alo, “Five people have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the killing. We cannot disclose their names or identities for the sake of the investigation.”

Miscreants hacked to death journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin, 38, from Bhatipara village in Fulbaria upazila of Mymensingh, in Gazipur in the Chandana Chowrasta area of the city around 8:30 pm on Thursday.

He was a staff reporter for the Daily Protidiner Kagoj in Gazipur. A video of his murder has since spread on Facebook.

According to police sources, Asaduzzaman Tuhin lived in the Chowrasta area of Gazipur city. A group of five to six miscreants, allegedly due to a previous conflict, chased him with sharp weapons near the Chandana Chowrasta intersection around 8:30 pm on Thursday.

At that time, he ran and sought refuge inside a tea shop in the Eidgah Market. However, the attackers entered the shop and began stabbing him indiscriminately. They fled the scene after confirming he was dead.

Shortly afterward, CCTV footage from a nearby business establishment surfaced, showing the individuals involved in the killing. That same night, police carried out operations in various parts of the city and detained five suspects.

Gazipur Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (crime) Robiul Islam said, “We have been able to identify those involved in the killing by reviewing the CCTV footage from the crime scene. We hope to arrest them soon. Once they are arrested, the motive behind the incident will be revealed.”

The victim’s elder brother, Selim Hossain, said that the post-mortem of the body was conducted at Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College Hospital in Gazipur this afternoon. The body was then handed over to the family. The funeral prayer was held after Friday prayers at Chandana Eidgah ground.

A human chain and a rally organised by the Journalists’ Union were held in front of the Gazipur Press Club in the morning protesting the killing of journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin.

Journalists demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in the murder. They said that law and order in Gazipur has deteriorated severely and stressed the need to identify those who sponsor extortion and muggers in various areas.

The accused are already identified and are clearly visible in CCTV footage, yet the authorities have failed to arrest them — which they called a failure of the administration.

Presided over by Gazipur Journalists’ Union president Delwar Hossain, journalists Fazlul Haque Morol, Fardin Ferdous, Masud Rana, Majharul Islam, Mahmuda Shikder, Aminul Islam, Sharif Ahmed, Shah Shamsul Haque, Azizul Haque, and Rezaul Karim, among others, spoke at the event.