Anisur Rahman, Savar Correspondent:
A court has acquitted two journalists from a false counter case filed against them by the accused after an attempt to murder a journalist in Savar. The acquitted are journalists Sohel Rana and Jahin Singh, both working in Savar.
Judge Begum Israt Jahan Munni of the Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order on Sunday afternoon. Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Al-Mamun Russell represented the defendants in the hearing.
Lawyer Al Mamun Russell said, the court has acquitted the defendants in the false case filed by Shamim, a former leader of the banned Chhatra League, as they could not present any evidence to support the allegations against Sohel Rana and Jahin Singh. The investigation officer submitted a one-sided report without any documentary evidence in the false case imposed to silence journalists during the dictatorship. The two journalists were implicated in the case and harassed just because they published news. After the hearing, the learned court acquitted both of them today. We are satisfied with the court's verdict.
Earlier, on the night of August 9, 2022, the police arrested 8 people, including Pathalia Union Parishad member Shafiul Alam Sohag, on charges of vandalism, beating, and looting a house in a quiet area of Ashulia and molesting women. When they went to collect news of the incident, the then Alokot Bangladesh newspaper reporter Jahin Singh and the third-level reporter Sohel Rana were threatened not to publish the news by Samiul Alam Shamim, alias SA Shamim, the brother of the arrested UP member and former police station president of the banned organization Chhatra League.
However, Shamim and his followers, angered by the police's information about the incident, created distorted photos of the two journalists and started threatening and spreading misinformation on social media Facebook. In protest, journalists formed a human chain at the Upazila Parishad on the morning of August 13. The victim journalist Sohel Rana filed a GD with Savar Model Police Station that night regarding the misinformation and threats.
However, the day after the incident, on August 14, Shamim's men publicly attacked journalist Sohel Rana inside the Savar Upazila Parishad. Police rescued Sohel in a seriously injured condition and took him to the Upazila Health Complex, where he was shifted to Enam Medical College Hospital as his condition was critical. On August 15, Ashraful Islam, the uncle of the journalist who was attacked, filed a case with Savar Model Police Station against 30 unknown people, including 2 people, naming Shamim as the main accused.
Samiul Alam Shamim, the main accused in the attempted murder case, filed a counter-case in court against Sohel Rana, the victim of the attack on August 17, and his colleague Jahin Singh, to cover up the attempted murder of the journalist while he was undergoing treatment in the hospital for 10 days.
It is worth noting that Shamim, who once openly traded drugs in the area, became involved in Chhatra League politics and became the owner of a huge amount of money overnight through extortion money. In addition, Shamim was seen openly shooting at students and the public with weapons during the July uprising. In addition to 23 cases of student murder, there are a dozen more cases against him, including theft, rape, and extortion.
