Twenty-two eminent citizens yesterday expressed concern over allegations that police recently visited the ancestral home of talk show Tritiyo Matra host Zillur Rahman to intimidate him in the name of gathering information.
Such an incident is unexpected and worrisome, they said in a joint statement sent to the media yesterday.
In the statement, they demanded an impartial investigation into the incident and punishment of those responsible in accordance with the law.
Zillur Rahman in a Facebook post on December 22 said police had gone to his ancestral home in Shariatpur to collect information.
The journalist said he lives in Dhaka and also has an office. If any information was needed, the police could have contacted him directly.
"I believe it was done to intimidate me, my family and neighbours," Zillur said in the Facebook post.
The signatories are to the statement are: Prof Mahbub Ullah, Prof Asif Nazrul, Prof Abdul Latif Masum, Prof Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan, Prof Iftikharul Alam Masud, Ain o Salish Kendra Executive Director Nur Khan Liton, Jatiya Press Club former General Secretary Syed Abdal Ahmed, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, Prof Shamima Sultana, M Zakir Hossain Khan, Prof Kamrunnesa Khandkar, Mahbub Morshed, Maruf Mallik, Faiz Ahmad Tayub, Munir Uddin Ahmed, Sultan Muhammad Zakaria, Md Saimum Reza Talukder, Barrister Shihab Uddin Khan, Barrister Zeeshan Mohsin, Mohammad Shamsuddin, Ehsan Mahmood and Zakaria Palash.
