Unidentified miscreants looted 700 copies of five national dailies from Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj district yesterday so that local people could not read a news item on a rape incident.
They looted the copies while they were being carried to Belkuchi upazila from Sayedabad area near Bangabandhu Bridge on a Nosimon (locally made shallow-engine driven human-haulier), said Daulat Sarker, newspaper agent of the upazila.
The miscreants stopped the nosimon on Belkuchi-Enayetpur Road around 4:30am and asked the driver which newspapers contained the news of a teen domestic help being raped by former Jubo Dal leader Mostafizur Rahman. They forcefully looted the newspapers, said Daulat.
The newspaper agents and locals in the area suspect that the miscreants looted the issues of the five newspapers – Prothom Alo, Jay Jay Din, Samakal, Ekusher Sangbad and Sangram – before distribution, as all of them contained the news.
Belkuchi police station Officer-in-Charge Anis Ahmed said: “I have heard the news but no hawker or agent has filed a written complain in this regard yet.”
Former Jubo Dal leader Mostafizur Rahman allegedly raped his teenage domestic help on Saturday at Jidhuri village of the upazila.
The five newspapers published the news yesterday.
A month ago, the victim, who was Mostafizur’s neighbour, was appointed as a domestic help at his house to look after his pregnant wife. On Saturday, while the wife was out for a medical check-up, Mostafizur had raped her, alleged the victim to journalists.
The victim is currently undergoing treatment at the Sirajganj Sadar Hospital.
