Md. Jahangir Alam, Dinajpur District Representative:
Ali Imam Al Reza, the Fulbari Upazila correspondent of the Daily Jugantor newspaper, was attacked by miscreants in the dark of night on Thursday, February 13, in Fulbari, Dinajpur, leaving him seriously injured and unconscious on the side of the road and fleeing.
Pedestrians passing by the road saw him and rescued him, quickly took him to the Phulbari Upazila Health Complex, admitted him and informed his family. When his condition deteriorated at the Upazila Health Complex, the doctors sent him to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital by ambulance.
The person who rescued him and witnessed it, Md. Masud, a resident of North Raghunathpur, Aladipur Union No. 2 of the upazila, said, "I was coming to Baraihat at around 8 pm on an emergency job when I suddenly saw Imam Reza lying unconscious on the side of the road with his motorcycle. Seeing the marks of injuries on his body and head in various places, I assumed that he had been the victim of a road accident. I immediately rescued him from there and brought him to the Phulbari Upazila Health Complex in an auto-rickshaw and informed his family."
However, his family claims that this was not a road accident, but a planned attack by someone to kill him. Reza's younger brother, Aichi Medical College Professor Dr. Shahriar Ahmed, has expressed doubts about his physical injuries, mental health and CT scan reports and said that this was not just a road accident. This was a planned terrorist attack and was inflicted with the intention of killing. Blunt injuries were inflicted on his eyes, nose, neck, ears and back of the head, arms, legs, waist and stomach in a way that would not be possible without a trained person. He said that the doctors there while he was admitted to Dinajpur Medical also said that he had been injured.
Meanwhile, when his condition deteriorated at Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, his family members took him to Dhaka by ambulance for better treatment at 4 pm on Tuesday, February 18. He is currently undergoing treatment there, his family said.
In addition to journalism, Imam Al Reza is the director and principal of North Point Ideal School, a renowned educational institution in Fulbari, and the president of the Fulbari Online Press Club.
When asked whether a case has been filed in this incident, his family members said that the case is under process. The real culprits will be identified very soon and a case will be filed against them. His family has asked everyone to pray that Imam Reza recovers and returns to normal life.
