Chattogram: The Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) has protested a report by the news agency Reuters on the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif at the Chattogram court.
In a statement sent to the media on Wednesday (November 27), the CMP said that a report titled ‘One Killed in Bangladesh as Hindu protesters clash with police’ was published in Reuters regarding the situation that arose at the court premises over the arrest and bail hearing of Sanatan Jagaran Manch leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. The report was later republished by many other media outlets, including Voice of America.
The CMP said that the Reuters report quoted Chattogram Metropolitan Police’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Liaquat Ali Khan as saying, ‘A Muslim lawyer defending Das was killed amid protests outside the court [in Chittagong], said police officer Liaquat Ali.’
However, neither Reuters nor any journalist spoke to Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Liaquat Ali Khan about this. He was on duty to normalize the law and order situation in and around the court premises during the incident. There are four constables named Liaquat in Chattogram. They also did not give any statement to anyone.
The CMP said that it is against journalistic ethics to attribute fabricated statements to a police officer on duty without taking his statement. The CMP hoped that Reuters and all media outlets will play a more responsible role in publishing such news in the future.
