Hossain, the local correspondent for the Bangla-language daily Ajker
Kagoj, was abducted and brutally murdered by unknown assailants
in the early morning in Manikcchari, eastern Chittagong District,
according to local news reports. The newswire service the United News
of Bangladesh (UNB) reported that police discovered Hossain’s decapitated
body nearby hours later.
According to Bangladeshi news reports, armed men broke into Hossain’s
house in the middle of the night and threatened to kill Hossain’s
2-year-old son unless he surrendered to them. The men took Hossain
away at gunpoint.
Hossain, 32, was the general secretary of the Manikcchari Press Club
and had recently written several articles about criminal activity,
according to local journalists. The Chittagong District is notorious
for organized crime, including the illegal trade of lumber and arms,
sources told CPJ. Hossain was also involved with the local youth wing
of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra
Dal, and had recently had a dispute with a neighbor about land, Bangladeshi
news outlets reported.
But local journalists told CPJ they are convinced that Hossain’s murder
was related to his investigative reporting about organized crime.
His wife says he had received death threats before his murder, according
to local news reports. An article in Ajker Kagoj at the time
of his death also claimed that Hossain was likely killed because of
his investigative work. Bangladeshi press groups condemned the killing
and called for justice.