Journalist covering shooting incident attacked by politician’s supporters in Bangladesh
In Dhaka on December 13, the surge in attacks on the media under Muhammad Yunus’s transitional administration was highlighted again when a reporter was physically assaulted while covering the shooting of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a spokesperson for the radical activist platform Inqilab Mancha.
The incident took place on Friday afternoon at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the student‑turned‑journalist Risan was gathering information about Hadi’s shooting. According to local media, supporters of the politician attacked him as he approached the emergency department.
When I was there, several people stopped me from filming in front of the Emergency Department,” Risan told the national daily Dhaka Tribune. “I asked why they were blocking me, and they came at me. I managed to escape with the help of another journalist who happened to be nearby,” he said.
Hadi was targeted in a high‑profile assault in Bijoynagar, the capital’s political hot‑spot, when a bullet struck him in the head. He remains in a dire state on life support in the same hospital.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali confirmed to the press that the individuals involved in Hadi’s shooting have been identified and can be taken into custody any moment. “The attackers who shot Sharif Osman Hadi have been identified. Police operations are underway, and they may be arrested at any moment,” he told reporters.
Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Muhammad Talebur Rahman further described the attack: the assailants arrived on a motorcycle at 2:25 p.m. and fired at Hadi, who was in a rickshaw in the Box Culvert area of Bijoynagar.
In a statement released by the neurosurgery department at DMCH, Zahid Raihan warned that Hadi’s condition was critically poor. “He has suffered two cardiac arrests and has lost a massive amount of blood. After completing the surgery, we cannot express any optimism about his condition. He remains in the worst possible state…though still alive. From here on, it is in God’s hands,” the surgeon explained.
He added that the bullet entered from one side, exited from the other, and fragments remained in the brain; a few small pieces were removed during the operation.
The shooting came just a day after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule, setting the 13th national parliamentary election and a July Charter referendum for next year’s February 12 campaign.
Overall, Bangladesh is experiencing a troubling rise in violence, reflecting deteriorating law‑and‑order under the Yunus‑led interim government.
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