Shyamal Dutta, editor of the privately owned newspaper Bhorer Kagoj, has been held in detention since September 2024 and faces multiple murder cases in retaliation for his journalism.
Police arrested Dutta and Mozammel Babu, former managing director and editor-in-chief of the privately owned Ekattor TV, on September 16, after they allegedly attempted to illegally enter India from Bangladesh’s northern Mymensingh district. Their families have disputed this claim.
Dutta’s daughter, Shashi, told CPJ that on September 15 the two men traveled to Mymensingh, north of Dhaka, where they were allegedly abducted by armed men, beaten, robbed, and held overnight in a remote location. She said police recovered them the following day, but when Dutta sought to file a First Information Report — which opens a police investigation into an alleged crime — against the abductors, officers instead detained both journalists and accused them of illegal border crossing.
Shashi said the location of their detention was about 20 miles from the nearest official border crossing. She added that when border authorities declined to support the police account of illegal crossing, the two were subsequently charged with the murder of a man named Fazlur Rahman, who was killed in Dhaka on August 5, during political unrest. On September 17, Dutta told the court that he had not been in Dhaka when the incident took place. Since then, he has been named in at least five additional murder cases, Shashi told CPJ in July 2025. Dutta’s lawyer ZI Khan Panna was also accused in an attempted murder case.
The journalists and their outlets are known for their support of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August 2024 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.
Panna said that Dutta suffers from cardiac issues and high blood pressure but prison authorities denied him access to the highest quality facilities, known colloquially as “division,” a category outlined under Bangladesh’s jail code. Dutta’s family’s bank accounts were frozen shortly after his arrest.
As of July 2025, Dutta remained in Kashimpur Prison, 20 miles north of Dhaka, with reported untreated medical conditions, including sleep apnea, cardiac issues, and high blood pressure. Bail has been repeatedly denied, and no trial has begun, Shashi told CPJ.
As of July 2025, police spokesperson Enamul Haque Sagordid had not responded to CPJ’s calls and text messages requesting comment.