Bhorer Kagoj journo picked up by DB, released after 10hrs

Mizanur Rahman Sohel, online head of Daily Bhorer Kagoj, has been released from the custody of the Detective Branch (DB) roughly 10 hours after being picked up from his home in Natun Badda, Dhaka.

Sohel, who is also vice president of the Center for Technology Journalism (CTJ), was taken into custody around 12:30 am on Wednesday and released around 10:30 am. 

Md Shafiqul Islam of the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Branch said Sohel was brought in at night for questioning regarding internal conflicts within his professional organisation. After the questioning, he was released in the morning.

Sohel’s wife Sumya Seema said that her husband was taken from their home by five individuals dressed in DB uniforms. She said, “One of the five introduced himself as Ashraful and said that the head of the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police wanted to speak with Sohel. He said that was the reason they had come to take him and that he would be returned after a short while.”

In a Facebook post at 10:43 am, Sohel wrote, “Alhamdulillah. After being held in DB custody for nearly ten and a half hours without any wrongdoing, they respectfully returned me home.”

He added, “Around midnight, under the pretext that the DB chief wanted to speak with me, 5–6 DB members forcibly took me from my home. Upon arrival at the DB office, my name was entered in the accused register. My shoes and belt were removed, and I was placed in a cell with other accused individuals. But I neither knew why I was detained, nor could those who had taken me or the senior DB officials explain.”

“Sohel further stated that he later realised he had been detained merely on the instruction of a government adviser, apparently to allow nine mobile phone businessmen to operate a monopoly. Along with him, the organization’s secretary, Abu Saeed Pias, was also detained. He remains at the DB office.”