Nadim’s Murder: Police ignored his pleas for security two months ago

Slain journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim made a complaint to Bakshiganj Police Station in Jamalpur over two months ago mentioning that he was in constant fear of attack.

But police neither recorded the complaint nor did anything to ensure his safety, his fellow journalists said.

The matter came to the fore after Nadim was killed last week allegedly by a union parishad chairman's men.

In his complaint, Nadim said Bakshiganj upazila Awami League President Shahina Begum, 50, had been angry at him after he wrote reports about her "misdeeds".

The complaint submitted to the officer-in-charge of the police station on April 12 added that Shahina and her followers were threatening to kill him and that he was assaulted the night before in Bakshiganj Modhya Bazar area.

He named four of his attackers as Akhtaruzzaman Helal, 45, Ismail Hossain Shwapon, 35, Shamim Khandaker, 40, and Sheikh Farid, 32, and added that they were Shahina's followers.

"They might cause severe harm to me anytime. I am living in panic because of them. That's why legal steps should be taken," read the complaint.

Several local journalists accompanied Nadim when he submitted the complaint to Sohel Rana, officer-in-charge of the police station.

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A journalist, seeking anonymity, said, "I, along with a few other journalists, were with Nadim when the written complaint was submitted to the OC, who told us that he would act after discussing the issue with higher officials and after investigating the matter.

"Later, we contacted the OC several times and asked what measures had been taken. But the OC did not cooperate."

Besides, on April 11, Nadim filed another complaint with the same police station stating that Khairul Hasan Milon, 25, who is locally known as a follower of Shahina, was spreading propaganda on social media against Nadim.

Nadim was the Jamalpur district correspondent of banglanews24.com and also the Bakshiganj upazila correspondent of Ekattor TV.

He died on June 15, a day after he was attacked by supporters of Mahmudul Alam Babu, chairman of Sadhurpara Union Parishad in Bakshiganj.

Babu, also expelled general secretary of the union AL, masterminded the murder because of a personal vendetta against him over news reports, Rab said earlier.

This correspondent talked to over a dozen locals and politicians in Bakshiganj who said Babu, who is now on a five-day remand, is a close aide to Shahina.

At least four people who attacked Nadim on April 11 were in the team that attacked him on June 15, according to witnesses.

Contacted, OC Sohel Rana said, "Nadim submitted a complaint. On the other hand, the rival group also filed another complaint against Nadim. We investigated it and found that a scuffle took place on April 11 between the two groups.

"We recorded neither complaints. We suggested both groups file a general diary. But none did it. Rather, they apparently reached a settlement later."

Shahina could not be contacted over the phone despite repeated attempts.