Iliyas Hossain, 45, a correspondent for the local Bangla daily newspaper, Dainik Bijoy, was repeatedly stabbed while returning home from work on the evening of October 11, 2020, in Narayanganj, a suburb of Dhaka, according to news reports and a photo of the body, which CPJ has seen. He was found in the street and taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
Hossain’s wife Zuleka Begum filed a murder case with the police that evening, naming eight suspects, according to news reports. Within a day of the murder, police had arrested three suspects in the case, and sought five more, according to the reports, which quoted an officer in charge at the Bandar Police Station, in Narayanganj. One of the suspects confessed to the murder in police custody and later before a magistrate, according to the reports.
CPJ’s text messages to officers at the Bandar Police Station were not answered.
The murder was carried out in revenge for Hossain’s articles in the Dainik Bijoy, which CPJ has seen, alleging that the suspects illegally connected gas lines, according to those reports. As a result of the allegations, the suspects were jailed but carried out the alleged murder after they were released on bail, according to the reports.