In Chittagong's Lohagara, a contractor has been accused of assaulting a journalist while gathering news, threatening to kill him and vandalizing his mobile phone. The incident took place in front of the office of the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) at around 3:30 on Sunday. The aggrieved journalist made a general diary (GD) yesterday at Lohagara police station in this incident.

The victim, Abdul Awal alias Johnny, is the Satkania-Lohagara correspondent of Daily Azadi Online. The name of the accused contractor is Manjur Alam.

According to GD sources, the contractor Manjur Alam has been accused of irregularities in the construction of the bridge over the Hangar canal on the Andharmani road of Padua union of the upazila and illegal extraction of sand. Manzoor Alam attacked Abdul Awal in front of the UNO office at around 3:30 PM, threatened to kill him and took away his phone and broke it.

A video of the incident has gone viral. There, Manjur Alam is seen taking the phone and throwing it on the ground. Abdul Awal said, 'Sand should be bought and used for bridge work. But the contractor Manjur Alam was illegally taking sand from Hangar Canal and supplying it for the construction of the bridge. I went to the spot and found the fact of sand removal. When the contractor went to speak about this, Manjur got angry and started abusing. At one stage, he took away the mobile phone used for collecting news videos, smashed it and threatened to kill me.

In this regard yesterday, the contractor Manjur Alam said that he did not attack or threaten anyone. The journalist's mobile phone fell on the ground due to the impact of his hand.

Lohagara Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Rashedul Islam said that a GD has been registered at the police station in connection with the attack on the journalist and vandalism of the mobile phone. The matter will be investigated and legal action will be taken.