PEC Expresses Concern Over Suspicious Journalist Deaths in Bangladesh

Geneva: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), a global media safety and rights body, has expressed grave concern over the recurring deaths of Bangladeshi journalists under suspicious circumstances. The organization has urged the interim government in Dhaka to launch an impartial and transparent investigation into these unusual fatalities.

According to local media reports on 1 September 2025, Khulna-based journalist Wahed-uz-Zaman Bulu was found dead on Sunday evening. Police recovered his body from beneath the Rupsa bridge in Bangladesh. A resident of Sonadanga upazila in Khulna district, Wahed-uz-Zaman (60) had previously worked with Dainik Ajker Kagoj, Sangbad Pratidin, and the United News of Bangladesh.

Earlier, on 22 August, the body of missing journalist Bibhuranjan Sarkar was discovered on the bank of the Meghna river. A resident of Siddheshwari in Dhaka, Bibhuranjan (70) was associated with the Bangla daily Ajker Patrika. Beginning his career as a rural correspondent for Dainik Azad, he later contributed to Dainik Matribhumi, Saptahik Chaltipatra, and Saptahik Mridubhashan.

“Bangladesh continues to witness mysterious deaths and cases of both physical and mental harassment against journalists in recent days. Within a year, the South Asian nation has recorded more than 500 instances of media harassment. We demand fair investigations into every case and urgent measures to ensure journalist safety, especially as Bangladesh prepares for its 13th national elections for the Jatiya Sansad in February 2026,” said Blaise Lempen, President of PEC (pressemblem.ch).

PEC’s South and Southeast Asia representative Nava Thakuria noted that Bangladesh, a country of 170 million people, has already lost three journalists to assailants in 2025 alone. Md Asaduzzaman Tuhin, a reporter for the Mymensingh-based Dainik Pratidiner Kagoj, was hacked to death by a group of miscreants on 7 August in Gazipur near Dhaka. On 6 August, Anwar Hossain, a reporter with Dainik Bangladesher Alo, was also killed in Gazipur. Earlier, on 25 June, Khandaker Shah Alam of Dainik Materi Jagat was murdered in Dhaka’s Nabinagar locality.