Dhaka journo 'assaulted' by police after taking video of woman's alleged harassment

Highlights:

• Journalist says police forced him onto bus, demanded video deletion
• Complaint alleges 20 to 25 police members assaulted journalist
• Journalist treated at DMCH for head, eye and chest injuries
• Bulbul files complaint with DMP commissioner over alleged assault
• DMP media wing says headquarters gave no information on incident

A journalist has alleged that police officers took him on a police bus and beat him after he filmed them allegedly assaulting a woman following an altercation at Bijoy Sarani intersection in Dhaka on 4 August.

Bulbul Hosain, a mobile journalist with private television channel Global TV, submitted a written complaint to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner yesterday (6 August), seeking action over the incident.

In his complaint, Bulbul said the incident took place around 5:30pm on 4 August at the Bijoy Sarani intersection, where he saw police members beating a woman following an altercation.

He said he began recording the incident on his mobile phone as part of his professional duty as a journalist and to collect objective information.

According to his complaint, around 20 to 25 police members noticed him recording and approached him before forcibly taking him onto a police bus.

He alleged that the officers repeatedly questioned him about why he had recorded the video and pressured him to delete the footage.

Bulbul said he refused to delete the video after informing them of his professional identity, following which the officers allegedly assaulted him.

He alleged that police officers hit him on the head, threw him on the floor of the bus and beat him.

He further alleged that an officer pressed a boot against his chest, causing him difficulty breathing and attempting to seriously injure him.

Bulbul said he was later rescued after people nearby and witnesses responded to his cries for help.

The complaint said he later received treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors found injuries to the back of his head, eye and chest.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Bulbul said the police bus was travelling from Jahangir Gate towards Nabisco when it got into an argument with motorcyclists blocking the left-turn lane at Bijoy Sarani intersection.

He alleged that police members got off the bus and beat a woman during the altercation, and that he was assaulted after recording the incident.

"I only recorded the incident as a journalist. I wanted to take statements from both the woman and the police members, but I became the victim instead," he said.

Bulbul alleged that the officers hit him with batons and stepped on his chest with their boots.

More than 24 hours after submitting the complaint to the DMP commissioner, no one had contacted him and no action had been taken, he added.

When contacted, DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) Niaz Mehdi told The Business Standard that his office had not been informed about the matter by the DMP headquarters.

He said to contact the DMP headquarters for further information.

Several officials from the DMP's headquarters were contacted for comments, but none responded till the filing of this report at 9pm.