Police officer 'seizes journalist’s phone'; Device still not returned

An additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of police in Dhaka’s Mirpur zone, Zahidul Islam, has been accused of forcibly taking the mobile phone of Kaler Kantho multimedia reporter Mahbub Islam while he was covering an ongoing garment workers’ protest. Video footage showing the incident has since emerged publicly.

At 11.30am on Sunday, as Mahbub was filming police charging baton on workers to disperse them, ADC Zahidul Islam allegedly approached him and forcibly took his mobile phone, the journalist said.

Mahbub said he showed the officer his press identification card and repeatedly asked for his phone to be returned, but his requests were refused. Even eight to 10 hours after the incident, the phone had not been returned, seriously disrupting his ability to carry out his professional duties.

Journalists have described the incident as a serious blow to press freedom and the safety of media workers.

According to Mahbub, the phone contained important documents related to news coverage, information for special reports and a substantial amount of personal data. Losing access to the device has caused significant difficulties in his work, he said.

Maruf Hossain, a reporter for Dhaka Post who was also covering the workers’ protest in the same area, reportedly faced similar obstruction. ADC Zahidul Islam allegedly behaved aggressively towards him and told him to stop recording video.

When Maruf protested, the officer reportedly sought to justify his behaviour by saying he had been ‘short-tempered’ at the time.

Journalists said such uncooperative and aggressive conduct by senior police officers could encourage more arbitrary behaviour among their subordinates.

An attempt was made to resolve the matter shortly after the incident in the presence of the officer-in-charge of Mirpur Model police station. However, Zahidul Islam allegedly repeatedly delayed the process.

Initially, the officer reportedly assured the journalist that the phone would be returned, but later claimed that it could not be found. He even offered to buy Mahbub a replacement phone if necessary.

However, speaking to the media, ADC Zahidul Islam denied taking the journalist’s phone. When journalists present at the scene showed him video footage of the incident, he reportedly failed to provide a clear explanation, instead suggesting that they speak to senior officials before leaving the scene.