Six people have been arrested in connection with the assault on two journalists at Jaleshwaritala in Bogra.
A team from the Detective Branch (DB) of police apprehended them late on Sunday night from the Banani area of Shahjahanpur upazila. Two Burmese knives, two motorcycles, and three mobile phones were seized from their possession.
SI Arifur Rahman of the DB filed a case against them under the Arms Act.
Local DB Officer-in-Charge Rakib Hossain said the assault occurred following a verbal altercation between two parties over a juice order at a juice bar. The accused have been sent to jail via a court order.
The arrested are Rakibul Islam Rakib, 22, Habibur Rahman Rocky, 25, Tarikul Islam, 22, Jisan Khan, 21, Jihad Hossain, 20, and Tutul Sarkar, 20.
According to police and the complaint statement, there is a Fresh Juice Bar located at Jailkhana Mor, Jaleshwaritala, Bogra town. At around 3:30pm on Sunday, Khurshid Alam, the Northern Region Correspondent of The Business Standard, along with Asafuddaula Niyon and Tawfiqul Islam Nirab, staff correspondents of the online portal Bogra Live, went there to drink juice.
At the same time, the six mentioned accused also arrived at the bar for juice. An argument broke out between the two groups over the juice order. At one point, under the leadership of Rakibul Islam Rakib, the accused allegedly assaulted the two journalists and their companion in front of the bar. Among the injured, journalist Niyon was admitted to Bogra Mohammad Ali Hospital. The other two received primary treatment.
Following the public assault on the two journalists and a third individual, widespread discussion and criticism erupted. Under the directive of Superintendent of Police Zaidan Al Musa, several teams from the DB and local police were deployed to capture the attackers.
They collected CCTV footage from various areas. Based on digital tracking and precise intelligence, around 11:45pm on Sunday night, the primary accused Rakibul Islam Rakib was arrested from the Banani area of Shahjahanpur upazila in Bogra.
Following his confession, Rocky, Tarikul, Jisan, Jihad, and Tutul were also arrested from nearby locations. Two Burmese knives, two motorcycles, and three mobile phones were seized during the operation.
Bogra DB OC Rakib Hossain said that SI Arifur Rahman filed a case under the Arms Act against these delinquents at Shahjahanpur police station.
Among them, Rakib already has two pending cases, and Rocky has six pending cases.
He further mentioned that preparations are underway to file a separate case at Bogra Sadar police station for the assault incident. Efforts are ongoing to arrest other fugitives involved in the incident.
