Supporters of the Awami League candidate for Comilla-6 (Sadar) constituency and member of parliament (MP) AKM Bahauddin Bahar have allegedly assaulted two television journalists and snatched away their phones.
This is the second reported physical assault of journalists by a ruling party candidate and incumbent MP in three weeks.
The incident took place at the entrance to the Shaheed Dhirendranath Dutta Stadium at 11am on Wednesday.
Video footage of the incident has gone viral on social media.
One of the victims, Ekattar Television reporter Kazi Enamul Haque Faruk said he and his camera person Saidur Rahman Sohag came under attack when the duo were preparing for a live program for the TV channel.
“On the orders of the local lawmaker, his activists attacked me. They also attacked my camera person and took away his phone and other devices,” Enamul added.
Camera person Sohag said: “MP Bahar’s supporters assaulted us, and his personal secretary Iqbal pushed me away from the spot."
Enamul is the president of the Comilla Television Journalist Forum and the former general secretary of the Comilla Press Club.
Bahar Raihan, joint secretary of the Comilla Press Club and Somoy TV journalist, said: “We came to cover the election campaign of Boat candidate AKM Bahauddin Bahar. After the meeting, he saw the journalists and said that no TV journalist could come to cover his events. It was then that the Ekattor TV journalists were verbally abused and assaulted. Their cameras were taken away."
He said this was not the first time that MP Bahar assaulted journalists. Bahar threw stones at him when he went to cover another program in Chanpur area on Monday.
On November 30, three journalists were beaten up by Chittagong-16 lawmaker Mustafizur Rahman and his men in Chittagong when the lawmaker was questioned about a violation of electoral code breach.
In another incident, Shahjahan Omar, the Awami League candidate for the Jhalakathi-1 constituency, came down heavily on journalists at the Election Commission in Dhaka as he was asked about the reason for his appearance at the commission on December 5.
Break arms and legs of BNP activists
On Monday, lawmaker Bahar instructed his followers to break the arms and legs of the BNP-Jamaat activists if they were seen campaigning for the January 7 polls.
A video of his speech is making the rounds on social media.
He said this during a meeting held at the residence of local Freedom Fighter Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan in Comilla Sadar in the afternoon.
MP Bahar said: "BNP did not participate in the election because they knew they would lose. If the BNP-Jamaat activists are found supporting any candidate, you should break their arms and legs. I am with you. There is no reason to be frightened."
Grim past
Controversial activities and remarks by Bahar are nothing new.
Bahar called for a “liquor-free” Puja in October, garnering criticism from the Hindu community. During the Comilla city polls in June last year, he defied the Election Commission’s order to leave his constituency.
On December 24, 2020, he threatened an official of the Department of Environment (DoE) with dire consequences for preparing a damage assessment report after inspecting a hill-cutting project by the Roads and Highways Department.
