On September 16, 2024, police arrested Mozammel Babu, former managing director and editor-in-chief of the privately owned Ekattor TV, and Shyamal Dutta, editor of the privately owned newspaper Bhorer Kagoj, after they allegedly attempted to illegally enter India from Bangladesh’s northern Mymensingh district.
Their families disputed the claim. Dutta’s daughter, Shashi, and sources close to Babu’s family speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution told CPJ that on September 15 the two men traveled to Mymensingh, where they were allegedly abducted by armed men, beaten, robbed, and held overnight in a remote location. Shashi Dutta said police found them the following day, but when Dutta sought to file a First Information Report against the abductors, officers instead detained both journalists and accused them of illegal border crossing.
Shashi said that they had been held about 20 miles from the nearest official border crossing. She added that when border authorities declined to support the police account, the two journalists were subsequently charged with murder — Dutta for the murder of a man named Fazlur Rahman and Babu for the murder of a woman named Liza Akhtar.
Sources close to Babu’s family said there are at least eight ongoing cases against him, all linked to murder allegations.
The journalists and their outlets are known for their support of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August following mass protests that ended her 15-year rule. Dozens of journalists whose reporting was considered favorable toward Hasina’s government have since been targeted in criminal investigations.
Babu’s lawyer ZI Khan Panna told CPJ that the journalist was dismissed from Ekattor TV shortly after Hasina’s fall.
As of July 2025, Babu was being held in Kashimpur Central Jail, on the outskirts of the capital.
Babu was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in late 2023 and underwent surgery that requires ongoing follow-ups, but he has received no medical checkups since his detention, according to source close to Babu’s family. In addition, he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic illnesses. Family members who recently visited him told CPJ he had lost weight and looked frail.
His family has been denied the legally mandated 10-minute weekly phone calls since November 2024 and are now allowed to see him only once every two weeks, a source close to Babu’s family said.
At a remand hearing on September 17, when asked if he wished to speak, Babu tried to defend himself but was shouted down by pro-opposition lawyers, according to news reports.
As of July, police spokesperson Enamul Haque Sagor did not respond to CPJ’s calls and text messages requesting comment.