JFA expresses shock over Bangla scribe’s murder

Oct. 28: Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expresses shock over Bangladesh scribe  Md Iliyas Hossain’s brutal murder recently in Narayanganj locality.  Hossain (50), who used to report for Dhaka based Bengali newspaper  Daily Bijoy, was targeted by assailants for his media coverage on smuggling, illegal gas connections and drug
trafficking.

Hailed from Jiodhara village, Hossain was hacked to death by miscreants in the evening of 12 October 2020. He left behind his parents, wife and two children with a host of relatives. His wife Julekha Begum informed that Hossain lately started working for another Bengali daily Swadesh Amar. She alleged that some local vested
interested individuals were engaged in his murder.

Hossain  is the second journalist to be killed in Bangladesh this year. Earlier Julhas Uddin (35), who worked for Bijoy TV, was stabbed to death on 3 September. Various national and international media rights bodies including Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum, UNESCO,  International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for an independent investigation into Hossain’s murder to punish the culprits.

Meanwhile, JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary  Nava Thakuria expressed anguishes over the killing of a Telangana scribe’s son by abductors recently. The minor boy  of Telugu news channel’s reporter Ranjith Reddy was kidnapped for ransoms from Mahbubabad locality and later Dikshit’s burnt body was recovered by the police in Thallapoosalapally forest area. The police have almost resolved the case identifying the killer and expecting his arrest soon.