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.
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 late 2024, Babu was held in Dhaka Central Jail, Keraniganj — on the outskirts of the capital — while police investigated allegations that he instigated three murders and illegally attempted to cross the border, Panna said.
Panna said that Babu suffers from prostate cancer and was not receiving adequate medical treatment.
As of late 2024, police spokesperson Enamul Haque Sagor and home ministry adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, oversees Bangladesh’s police and prisons, did not respond to CPJ’s calls and text messages requesting comment.