At around 10 p.m. on June 14, 2023, a group of about seven men ambushed Bangladeshi journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim while he was traveling home on his motorcycle in the Bakshiganj sub-district of northern Mymensingh division, according to news reports, security footage of the incident published by Ekattor TV, and Al Mujahid Babu, a journalist and witness to the attack, who spoke with CPJ by phone.
The men dragged Nadim into a dark alley where around 15 to 20 other men were waiting and severely beat him with bricks and wooden rods, Al Mujahid Babu said, adding that when he attempted to help Nadim, the attackers pushed him away from the scene. The attackers left Nadim unconscious, and bystanders took him to the hospital.
Nadim, 42, died the next day from excessive blood loss caused by a severe head injury. He was a correspondent for the privately owned news website Banglanews24 and broadcaster Ekattor TV and vice president of the Jamalpur District Online Journalists Association.
Al Mujahid Babu and a member of Nadim’s family, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal, said they believed Nadim was targeted in retaliation for his May 2023 series of reports for Banglanews24 about Mahmudul Alam Babu, chair of a local government unit and general secretary of the Bakshiganj unit of the then-ruling Awami League party.
Nadim’s articles concerned issues in the politician’s marriage, including a press conference by a woman who alleged that he secretly married her, then abused and divorced her. Nadim also posted about the allegations on Facebook.
On May 14, Mahmudul Alam Babu filed a complaint, which CPJ reviewed, against Nadim and three other journalists, including Al Mujahid Babu, under the Digital Security Act for reporting on the allegations. Hours before he was attacked, Nadim posted on Facebook that a court had dismissed the case.
The Media Freedom Coalition, a partnership of countries advocating for media freedom, issued a statement in June saying it was “deeply concerned” by Nadim’s killing. The Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media and Bakshiganj Press Club local press groups also condemned it, saying Nadim was targeted due to his reporting.
The Awami League’s Mahmudul Alam Babu was at the scene directing the attackers from a distance, journalist Al Mujahid Babu said, adding that he saw the politician’s son, Fahim Faisal Rifat, hit Nadim’s head with a brick.
Mahmudul Alam Babu went into hiding following Nadim’s death but was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion, a paramilitary police unit, on June 17 following his suspension from the Awami League for violating party discipline. Babu initially denied involvement but police said he later confessed in court before he was sent to jail on June 23.
By July 2023, authorities had arrested 17 people in connection with the murder, according to Nadim’s family member, adding that only five were among the 22 suspects named in the police complaint filed by Nadim’s family based on information received from witnesses.
Mahmudul Alam Babu was released on court-ordered bail on July 10, 2024, Nadim’s family member told CPJ, adding that at least three suspects remained in jail, the remainder had been released on bail and that the police Criminal Investigation Department, which was conducting the probe, had not filed a charge sheet against any suspects.
CPJ’s calls and text messages to Babu prior to his arrest in June 2023 and following his release on bail in August 2024 did not receive any replies.
Mohammad Ali Arafat, state minister for information and broadcasting, told CPJ in June 2024 that the CID investigating officer had completed his probe and the government had appointed a special public prosecutor to handle the case.
Arafat said that efforts to apprehend one of the suspects, Rifat, were ongoing and he was considered a “conspirator” in the case, with indications that he was in the capital Dhaka at the time of the murder. Nadim’s family member denied that allegation, saying witnesses saw the Awami League politician’s son at the scene of the crime.
Nadim’s family member said they wanted police to investigate whether Shahina Begum, president of the Bakshiganj unit of the Awami League and a close associate of Mahmudul Alam Babu, was involved in the attack.
Nadim received death threats from Begum and her supporters after the journalist published a January 10, 2023, article alleging Begum’s father committed war crimes during the country’s 1971 war, the family member said, and on April 10, four of Begum’s supporters severely beat Nadim in retaliation. Nadim reported the threats and the attack to the Bakshiganj police station, the family member said.
CPJ’s calls and text messages to Begum requesting comment did not receive a response.
The CID investigating officer did not respond to CPJ’s July 2024 WhatsApp messages requesting comment on the status of the probe and whether police were investigating Begum.