Bangladeshi politician arrested on suspicion of journalist's murder

Politician Mahmudul Alam Babu

DHAKA TRIBUNE SCREENSHOT

AFP quoted a statement from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite Bangladeshi force, saying that politician Mahmudul Alam Babu was arrested near the border with India, after a nationwide manhunt.

Mr Babu, 50, is accused of orchestrating the murder of journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim on June 14. Mr Nadim was beaten by a group of men near his home in Jamalpur district, in Bangladesh’s northern Mymensingh province, and later died in hospital.

According to local police chief Sohel Rana, Mr. Babu wanted revenge on Mr. Nadim for a series of articles the journalist wrote about a child custody dispute related to the politician's recent divorce.

"A journalist saw Mr Babu at the very spot where Mr Nadim was beaten by a group of men," Mr Rana told AFP.

Mr Rana said Mr Babu was the local secretary general of the ruling Awami League party, which announced his expulsion soon after he was named as a suspect in the murder.

In addition, six other people were also arrested in the incident.

Local press club president Shaheen Al Amin told AFP that Mr Babu was angry because Mr Nadim had written extensively about his family dispute. Mr Babu filed a defamation suit against Mr Nadim but a court dismissed the case on 13 June.

"The next day, Nadim was attacked by Mr Babu's men and he was hit on the head with a brick. He died of a brain hemorrhage," Mr Amin said.

Journalists' groups in Bangladesh held protests after the murder to demand the arrest of the perpetrators.

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