Prime Accused 'Bhera Saiful' Arrested in Chattogram Case Over Journalist Held Hostage at Gunpoint and Robbed

Police have arrested the prime accused, Md Saiful, also known as Bhera Saiful (30), in a case filed over a journalist being held hostage at gunpoint in Halishahar, Chattogram, while he was there to gather news, with a ransom demanded and money taken through bKash.

Halishahar police arrested him on Saturday afternoon.

Earlier in this case, accused number 5 Saikat (24), accused number 8 Md Arif Hossain (26) and a 17-year-old teenager had been arrested. With Saiful, the number of arrests in the case now stands at four.

The case's investigating officer, SI Md Manju, said the number 1 accused, Saiful, has been arrested. Efforts are continuing to arrest the other accused and recover the snatched money.

According to the case statement, the victim, Abul Hossain, is a staff reporter of Dainik Purbodesh.

On 14 October at around 5:15pm he went to gather news on Road 2 of Romna Residential Area in Ward 24 under Halishahar police station. At that time, 10 to 12 people including the named accused surrounded and beat him.

He was then taken to a nearby deserted road at the threat of a pistol and a knife and held hostage, the case statement alleges.

According to the allegation, after snatching Tk15,000 in cash from the journalist, a ransom of Tk200,000 was demanded.

When he refused to pay the extortion money, his mobile phone was seized and the PIN of his bKash account was taken. Later, through various transactions, another Tk55,300 was moved from the account. In all, Tk70,300 was taken from him.

The complaint further says that before releasing him, a video of a forced false confession was recorded in order to humiliate and blackmail the journalist.

He was also threatened with death if he disclosed the incident or complained to police, the complaint states.

Over the incident, the victim journalist filed a case at Halishahar police station on 15 October as the complainant.

Halishahar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Joynal Abedin Mondal said the case is being investigated with importance. Operations are continuing to identify and arrest the remaining accused involved.

With the prime accused now arrested, police are focusing on arresting the rest and recovering the snatched money.