“I was frightened, and I couldn’t say anything as my tongue was entangled with fear,” said Shariar Zaman Mahin with the utmost horror in his eyes.

Mahin is the 15-year-old son of journalist Shafiuzzaman Rana, the Nakla correspondent for the Bangla daily Desh Rupantor. Rana, 45, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment on Tuesday for allegedly misbehaving with a government official and an office staff while trying to collect information from the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) office in Nakla Upazila of Sherpur.

Mahin was speechless to see his father being rebuked and sent to jail, forming a mobile court that day. 

He alleged, “My father and I went to the UNO office on Tuesday and sought some documents through a formal application. We were kept waiting by the officials there for an extended period. Then my father complained to the Deputy Commissioner’s office (he assumed) about the unnecessary delay in providing the documents via phone.”

“When the UNO came to know about the complaint, she got angry, rebuked us, called the police, got my father arrested, and instantly sentenced him to six months of imprisonment. I was shocked and heartbroken to see my father go to jail that way,” he said.

He demanded the withdrawal of the ‘unjust’ imprisonment and the immediate release of his father. 

Bonna, the wife of Rana, said the UNO was angry with her husband when he sought information about the expenses of several projects of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Contacted, Nakla’s UNO Sadia Ummul Banin said, "Rana had applied to the Right to Information Act, 2009, seeking some public documents. Our office told him to wait for 20 days so that the authorities concerned could comply with the request.”

"But on Tuesday, Rana forcefully entered Confidential Assistant Shila Akter's room and demanded the documents immediately. When she refused to provide the documents without proper authorisation, the journalist started shouting at her."

The UNO alleged that the situation escalated when other officials arrived at the scene and Rana misbehaved with them.

Then we called the police and he was arrested under a mobile court led by Assistant Commissioner (land) and executive magistrate Md Shihabul Arif, who sent Rana to jail for misconduct with public officers. 

Deputy Commissioner of Sherpur Abdullah Al-Khayrum said, “I wasn’t present at my office as I joined the DC Conference in Dhaka during that time. If I were there, this incident might not have happened.”

“There is an appeal option against the jail term imposed on the journalist. If his family appeals to my office, I will consider his bail,” the DC added.

Journalists from different parts of the country expressed profound concerns about the incident and demanded the immediate release of jouno Shafiuzzaman Rana. They also demanded the removal of Nakla’s UNO Sadia Ummul Banin.