In a late-night operation, members of the Detective Branch (DB) allegedly picked up journalist Mizanur Rahman Sohel from his residence in Dhaka’s New Badda area just after midnight on Tuesday (19 November).
Media sources claim the detention was carried out on the instructions of Faez Ahmad Tayyab, Special Assistant to Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
Sohel, a prominent media professional, is the online head of Dainik Bhorer Kagoj and serves as the secretary of the Online Editors Alliance.
When contacted by journalists to verify the incident, DB Chief Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam confirmed that Sohel had been brought to the DB office. Asked why a journalist was taken from his home at midnight, he stated that Sohel was brought in “for questioning based on specific information.”
During the pickup, a police member identified as Ashraful reportedly told Sohel’s wife that the DB chief wanted to speak to her husband and that “he will be brought back home after the conversation.”
The midnight detention has intensified concerns among media professionals, many of whom allege that the Yunus administration is increasingly persecuting journalists, creating a climate of fear and intimidation across newsrooms nationwide.
