A multimedia reporter for Global Television, Bulbul Hossain, has alleged that police officers assaulted him inside a police van after he filmed them allegedly beating a woman in the capital’s Bijoy Sarani area.
Bulbul has submitted a written complaint to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner, seeking legal and departmental action against the officers involved.
He submitted the complaint at the DMP headquarters in Ramna on Thursday afternoon.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune on Saturday, Bulbul said the incident occurred around 5:30pm on August 4 while he was on his way to cover a clash between Islami Chhatra Shibir and BNP activists.
He said that a police van was stuck in traffic near the Bijoy Sarani intersection, with several motorcycles blocking its path. Police officers reportedly got into arguments with some motorcyclists.
At one point, when a woman approached the van, several officers allegedly assaulted her. Bulbul said he began recording the incident in the line of his professional duty. The officers order him to delete the footage.
He alleged that the officers then forcibly took him into the police van and assaulted him after he refused to delete the video despite identifying himself as a journalist.
According to his complaint, the officers repeatedly struck him on the head, threw him to the floor of the van and beat him. He also alleged that one officer pressed a boot against his chest and attempted to suffocate him.
Bulbul said he was eventually able to leave the van after people nearby came forward upon hearing his screams.
He was later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors reportedly found injuries to his head, eye and chest and advised him to take three days of complete rest.
“I have filed a complaint with the DMP. I have been called by Tejgaon Police Station,” Bulbul said.
When contacted, Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had not yet been informed about the complaint by the DMP.
“If the complainant brings a copy of the complaint submitted to the DMP commissioner, we will investigate the matter and take appropriate action,” he said.
In his complaint, Bulbul described the alleged assault as an attempt to silence independent journalism and a violation of human rights. He urged the authorities to identify the officers involved using video footage and eyewitness accounts and take legal and departmental action against them.