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Independent TV sues AL MP; counter suit against Salman F Rahman
Independent TV yesterday sued ruling Awami League legislator Golam Maula Rony for assaulting its two journalists, which prompted the lawmaker to file a counter suit against Salman F Rahman, owner of the private television channel.
Rony beat up the two journalists at his Topkhana Road office in the capital, leaving them seriously injured.
Reporter Imtiaz Momin and cameraperson Mohsin Mukul belong to a team that produces the crime-investigative show Talash for the TV channel.
Talking to The Daily Star, Imtiaz said they had information that a bribe of more than Tk 1 crore, sent from Patuakhali, was to reach the lawmaker at his office on the ninth floor of Meherba Plaza on Topkhana Road.
Imtiaz said they were waiting at a staircase to grab the footage of the bribe being delivered by a government official and a contractor.
But at around 1:15pm, the lawmaker showed up at the staircase and out of the blue landed a punch on his face, Imtiaz said.
Ronys associates then piled on with the assault. They broke their camera, took away its memory card, and beat up Imtiaz and Mukul with large wooden rulers.
Rony, MP from Patuakhali-3 (Golachipa), and his associates held them hostage for two hours before calling in the police to hand them over to the law enforcers, accusing them of impersonating journalists trying to extort money from the ruling party lawmaker, Imtiaz said.
Imtiaz and Mukul, showing their ID cards, managed to convince police that they were indeed journalists. Police then took them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. Mukul was still under treatment at 9:30pm.
The broken camera and the memory chip were returned to the journalists.
Following the assault, senior journalists went to the spot and asked Rony to apologise and provide the injured journalists with compensation.
Independent TV, in the evening, filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station against Rony and 20 others for attempted murder, assault and vandalism.
Contacted, Rony claimed that he had not assaulted the journalists and the question of offering an apology did not arise.
However, footage recovered from the memory chip, which was telecast by Independent TV and other private TV stations, showed that the lawmaker made the first strike. He was also seen apologising for the attack.
But Rony, talking to this correspondent, insisted that he had neither hit the two journalists, nor instigated their being beaten up. He blamed the assault on others present in the office.
Furthermore, these journalists had been following me for the past three or four days, he added.
On Wednesday, Imtiaz and Mukul interviewed the lawmaker regarding his drivers family living in the flat allotted to him at the NAM Bhaban on Manik Mia Avenue in the capital, Imtiaz said.
Late last night, Rony filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station against Salman F Rahman, Imtiaz and Mukul.
Salman is also a former adviser to Awami League President Sheikh Hasina.
In the case, Rony accused Imtiaz and Mukul of storming his office, beating him up, threatening him with death and trying to extort money from him.
Meanwhile, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in a press statement condemned the assault on the journalists.
MP Rony beats up 2 journos - Independent TV sues AL MP; counter suit against Salman F Rahman
How many news stations does Mr Rahman own?