Bangladeshi Journalist Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem Murdered By Alleged Drug Traffickers

Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem (RSF/Facebook)

Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem, a journalist with Dainik Cumillar Dak, was shot to death by alleged drug traffickers in the late hours of April 13. Bangladeshi border guards heard the shots circa 11 pm near a border crossing in the southeast part of the country.  

Police allege that Nayeem was lured into a trap by these traffickers, who promised to “show him how drugs were smuggled into Bangladesh from the neighbouring Indian state of Tripura,” according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Nayeem’s own mother told authorities that she suspected one man in particular, who goes by the mononym Razu, was possibly responsible for her son’s killing. She also named six other men. Razu was subsequently killed in a gunfight with police on April 16.

There have been several high-profile murders of journalists in Bangladesh in recent years.

In 2012, former Deutsche Welle journalist Golam Mustofa Sarowar and his wife, Mehren Runi, were found brutally murdered in their home in Dhaka. Their bodies were discovered by their five-year-old child. At the time, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised the public she would find the killers quickly. However, ten years later, the case remains unsolved. "Bangladesh police have solved many mysterious cases in the past. It's hard to believe that they were not able to find a clue behind the couple's murder even after such a long time," said Nowsher Roman, brother of victim Runi.

A few years ago, the murder of blogger Avijit Roy made global headlines, though in this case, the murder was solved. Roy was a journalist who created the website Mukto-Mona, which he described as “taboo” in Bangladesh for its harsh critiques of religious fundamentalism. Roy was hacked to death by assailants with machetes in 2015 in Dhaka. Later, a branch of the fundamentalist group Ansarullah Banga claimed responsibility for the murder in a Twitter post. Six people were convicted of the murder in early 2021; five were sentenced to death and one to life in prison.

Bangladesh ranks 152nd out of 180 countries on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index. Bangladesh also ranks 11 on the World Impunity Index, which indicates countries where murderers of journalists are unlikely to be brought to justice.