Two journalists, including a reporter of Dhaka Tribune, were subjected to assault and harassment by some police officials while covering a clash between two rival groups of Chhatra League in College gate area of Chittagong city on Thursday.
The assaulted journalists are Dhaka Tribune’s Pimple Barua and Bishwajit Sarma, a reporter of the Chittagong Pratidin.
The incident happened when the duo went to cover the clash between the Chhatra League factions around 1:40pm and were recording the clash on their phones.
At one stage, Saifuddin Manik, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Chawkbazar police station, attacked Pimple Barua with a stick. He received injuries to his fingers. Despite showing their identity cards, the ASI hit them and hurled abuse.
Other police officials who were present at the scene joined in the intimidation, obstructing the journalists' work and preventing them from performing their duties.
After the incident, the Chittagong Union of Journalists (CUJ) issued a statement condemning the attack. CUJ President Tapan Chakraborty and General Secretary M Shamsul Islam expressed deep concern over the attack incident.
The CUJ leaders denounced the police's actions on the journalists and termed the incident heinous and unwanted.
It also called upon the Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police to take immediate disciplinary action against the responsible police officers within the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, when asked about this, Kazi Mohammad Tarek Aziz, additional deputy commissioner (PR) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) said that he had forwarded the detailed information to the CMP commissioner.
“I hope appropriate action will be taken soon,” said the additional deputy commissioner.