Barguna Correspondent

A case has been filed against four officials in court on charges of detaining a journalist and demanding a ransom of one lakh taka for seeking information from the former Barguna Sadar Upazila UNO on Monday.

Barguna Judicial Magistrate Sheikh Anisuzzaman accepted the case and ordered the Police Investigation Bureau (PBI) Patuakhali to investigate.

The accused are former Barguna Sadar UNO Md. Shamim Mia, former Barguna Sadar Police Station OC Abul Kasem Md. Mizanur Rahman, former Barguna Sadar Upazila PIO Md. Ziaur Rahman and Barguna Police Station SI Md. Sohel Rana.

According to the case, Abdul Mannan's son of Barguna KG School Road, journalist Md. Rashedul Islam Rashed, a crime reporter of Bichitra, alleged that on July 24, 2024. at 12:00 am, he went to the room of the Barguna Sadar UNO. The plaintiff asked him for information about irregularities and corruption in the work of 5 crore 5 lakh 25 thousand taka in Barguna under the Kabikha and Kabita projects allocated by the Ministry of Disaster and Relief. He gave the plaintiff partial information and asked him to go to the room of the Upazila PIO. The PIO asked the plaintiff to come after two days. The plaintiff went to his office again after two days. The PIO asked the plaintiff sit for a long time and went to the room of the UNO. Later, The PIO told the plaintiff that no information would be given to him.

At that time, the plaintiff told the PIO that I have some information. This information can be used to make news. At that time, UNO Md. Shamim Mia came to the room of the PIO. He ordered to arrest the plaintiff. The Ansar members grabbed the collar of the plaintiff's shirt and dragged him into Md. Shamim Mia's official vehicle.

The UNO and PIO told the plaintiff that he would be released if he paid a ransom of one lakh taka. If he did not pay the ransom, he would be implicated in various cases, including obstruction of government work. When the plaintiff refused to pay the ransom, Md. Shamim Mia sent him to Barguna Police Station in his official vehicle. Barguna Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abul Kasem Md. Mizanur Rahman and SI Md. Sohel Rana illegally detained the plaintiff in the police station from 1 pm to 10 pm.

The plaintiff said that on the orders of Barguna Sadar Upazila Executive Officer Md. Shamim Mia and the Project Implementation Officer, SI Md. Sohel Rana confiscated my ID card. My phone had important information about the corruption of Tk. 5 crore and deleted it. During the tenure of the fallen Sheikh Hasina, those defendants showed their power and destroyed my honor and dignity. Those four defendants detained me in the police station's custody and recorded a video and spread it on social media. I was socially harmed by this. When journalists from Barguna came to know about it, they came to Barguna police station. Later, the accused released me with my bond.

Upazila PIO Md. Ziaur Rahman could not be reached on phone.

Barguna Police Station gormer OC Abul Kasem Md. Mizanur Rahman said, "That's the matter. Rashed was being kept in my police station. He was later released. Why will a case be filed in this incident? What did I do wrong?"

In this regard, the former UNO said, "The incident is completely false and baseless. If any incident happened, he could have immediately taken refuge in the law. A citizen has the right to file a case. The court has ordered an investigation. The investigation will prove whether I am guilty or not."