Lalmonirhat Assistant Commissioner (Land) Abdullah Al Noman Sarkar has been transferred for allegedly threatening to send five journalists to jail and confining them in his office for seeking information.
He has been transferred to Haripur upazila of Thakurgaon, according to the order of Rangpur Divisional Commissioner Habibur Rahman.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) TMA Momin confirmed the matter on Thursday evening.
On Thursday, five journalists were confined to the office of the assistant commissioner (land) in Lalmonirhat for about 40 minutes.
Witnesses said Assistant Commissioner (Land) Abdullah Al Noman Sarkar hurled abuse at the journalists at noon. He also threatened to send them to jail while locking them inside his office.
On information, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) TMA Momin rushed to the spot, and freed the journalists.
When the journalists took position on the spot, the additional deputy commissioner calmed the situation and assured to take necessary measures.
Assistant Commissioner (Land) Abdullah Al Noman Sarkar also fined a television cameraperson Tk5,000 for parking his motorcycle there. The incident reportedly took place after everyone else left the spot.
After the incident, journalists staged a blockade on the Lalmonirhat-Burimari road.
They called off their program after being assured by Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ullah of taking necessary action.
The journalists claimed that on Thursday morning, three office assistants from the AC Land office were presiding over land-related hearings in the absence of the Assistant Commissioner (Land) Abdullah Al Noman Sarkar
When Mahfuz Saju, the district representative of My TV and Daily Observer, recorded a video of the hearing, the office staff members became angry and informed the AC Land.
Subsequently, the AC Land arrived at the location and detained Mahfuz.
Later, four other journalists - Neon Dulal, SK Saheed, Faruque Ahmed, and Kawshar Ahmed—rushed to the location.
However, they too were detained by the AC Land at that moment.
