False case filed against journalist for publishing news about irregularities in road construction in Kotalipara

A contractor's representative has filed a case in court against Kotalipara Upazila Correspondent of Amar Desh Patrika Moniruzzaman Sheikh Jewel for publishing news about irregularities in road construction in Kotalipara Upazila of Gopalganj. This incident has created concern among local journalists. Leaders of various journalist organizations have demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case, claiming it to be false and harassing. On Tuesday (July 7), Md. Yasin Hossain filed the case on behalf of the contractor in the Senior Judicial Magistrate Amli Court of Gopalganj on Tuesday (July 7). Court judge Raifa Sarkar took cognizance of the case and issued...

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A contractor’s representative has filed a case in court against Kotalipara Upazila Correspondent of Amar Desh Patrika Moniruzzaman Sheikh Jewel for publishing news about irregularities in road construction in Kotalipara Upazila of Gopalganj. This incident has created concern among local journalists. Leaders of various journalist organizations have demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case, claiming it to be false and harassing.

On Tuesday (July 7), Md. Yasin Hossain filed the case on behalf of the contractor in the Senior Judicial Magistrate Amli Court of Gopalganj on Tuesday (July 7). Court judge Raifa Sarkar took cognizance of the case and issued a summons.

The case alleges that while pouring pitch on the road, journalist Moniruzzaman Sheikh Jewel and 4-5 unidentified persons demanded 150,000 taka from Yasin Sheikh, the contractor’s representative.  When he refused to pay, they tried to strangle him and unidentified persons removed the carpeting from the road.

However, local sources said that there were complaints from the beginning about the use of low-quality construction materials and various technical irregularities in the maintenance work of the road from Shikirbazar Scout Bhaban to East Chitrapara in the upazila. In view of these complaints, the locals filed a written complaint with the Upazila Executive Officer on June 30.

Locals alleged that although according to the project design, about three feet of earthen shoulders were to be constructed on both sides of the road, this was not done in most places. In addition, old and low-quality bricks were used for edging work. As the necessary prime coat and tack coat were not properly applied before carpeting and the quality of bituminous carpeting was not maintained, the carpeting started coming off in various places within two to three days of the completion of the work. Videos of the pitch coming off even with the touch of a hand went viral on social media.

Journalists from various media outlets went to the scene to collect information about the incident.  Later, on July 6, the online edition of Amar Desh published a news story titled “Irregularities in road construction in Kotalipara, video of carpeting being removed goes viral.”

Journalist Moniruzzaman Sheikh Jewel claimed that before the news was published, contractor Yasin Sheikh pressured him on his mobile phone not to publish the news and threatened to get involved in an extortion case if he published it. Later, the case was filed against him after the news was published. He alleged that the case was filed with the aim of diverting public opinion from the issue of irregularities in road construction.

President of Gopalganj Press Club and Kalbela district representative Zubair Hossain said that if cases are filed against journalists for publishing news of corruption and irregularities, then independent journalism will be seriously questioned.

We expect justice in the case filed against every journalist. In addition, we demand that no journalist should suffer harassment and loss in the case filed by the opponent.

Gopalganj Journalists Union General Secretary and Somoy Television District Representative Jayanta Shirali said, “I myself have collected news about the irregularities on that road and published the news. Journalists have performed their professional duties there. Moniruzzaman Sheikh Jewel was not at the spot when the pitch was being poured. It is very unfortunate that a case has been filed against him on charges of extortion and assault. We demand the immediate withdrawal of this case.”

Kotalipara Thana Press Club President Sudhanya Gharami said, “The allegations of irregularities in various projects of contractor Yasin Sheikh are not new. There are allegations of various irregularities in his work. The Upazila Executive Officer has also visited the work site several times and seen the irregularities.”

Ward BNP Sinion Vice President Gias Uddin, a resident of the area adjacent to the road, said, “We strongly condemn the case against the journalist. From the beginning, the contractor has been committing massive irregularities in the construction of this road. When the locals complained, they threatened to file a case of extortion against them. We, the locals, have filed a written complaint to the Upazila Executive Officer after seeing irregularities in the construction of this road.”  Where action should have been taken against the contractor of this work, the contractor filed a case against a sincere journalist to distort the facts. We demand immediate withdrawal of this false case and action against the contractor.

Upazila Executive Officer Sagufta Haque said, I have received a written complaint about irregularities in road construction. I have also seen the matter on social media. The matter has been reported to the concerned department to take necessary action. In this regard, I called the plaintiff of the case and representative of Jakaullah and Brothers Limited, Md. Yasin Hossain, on his mobile phone and asked about the case filed against the journalist. He said that when he heard about the case, why are you asking me? Come face to face and we will talk.

It is worth noting that under the ‘Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project (Phase II)’ of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Jakaullah and Brothers Limited of Chuadanga has been awarded the work order for the maintenance of the 1,265-meter-long road from Shikirbazar Scout Building to East Chitrapara at a cost of about 74 lakh 67 thousand 301 taka. Yasin Hossain is implementing the work as the local representative of the company.