Info ministry asks BFIU to probe 28 journalists

The information ministry has asked the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit to probe 28 journalists.
The journalists include nine editors, former editors, and organisational heads.
The BFIU has already sent out correspondences seeking the bank account details of these journalists, according to sources in the unit.
A letter from the information ministry was sent to the BFIU chief on October 22.
The nine current and former editors and organisational heads named in the letter are Naem Nizam, editor of Bangladesh Pratidin, Zahirul Islam Mamun, chief executive officer of ATN News, Syed Borhan Kabir, editor of Bangla Insider, Alamgir Hossain, editor of Samakal, Rezaul Karim Lotus, editor of The Daily Sun, Sheikh Jamal Hossain, editor of Dainik Mukhpatro, Subhash Chandra Singh Roy, editor of ABN News24, Santosh Sharma, editor and publisher of Kalbela, and Rafiqul Islam Ratan, former editor of Swadesh Pratidin.
The list also includes Farida Yasmin, former president of the Jatiya Press Club and Shaban Mahmud, the former government’s press minister in New Delhi.
Three journalists from DBC News have been included in the list – Head of News Zayadul Ahsan Pintu, Special Correspondent Aditya Arafat, and Masud Ibny Ayub Karzon.
Two journalists from Bangladesh Pratidin on the list are Mirza Mehedi Tamal, their city editor, and Zulkarnain Rano, their chief reporter.
From Jugantor, Abdullah Al Mamun, their former special correspondent and Sheikh Mamunur Rashid, their special correspondent, were named.
Two journalists from News24 were on the list, namely, Rahul Raha, executive editor, Ashiqur Rahman Shraban, deputy chief news editor and head of digital.
In addition to Mamun, another journalist from ATN News, Tawhidul Islam Shourav, was included.
The list also includes Haider Ali, executive editor of Kaler Kontho, Moinul Islam, executive editor of Amader Shomoy, Abul Khair, city editor of Dainik Ittefaq, Madhusudan Mondal of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), Ashok Chowdhury of Boishakhi Television, journalists Azmal Hossain and Shyamol Sarkar.
The letter was signed by the information ministry’s Deputy Secretary Mohammed Masud Khan.
In addition, the press accreditation cards of 20 journalists were cancelled, as per another directive issued by the information ministry on October 28.
They include seven from the 28 mentioned in the letter to the BFIU: Ashok Chowdhury, Farazi Azmal, Naem Nizam, Farida Yasmin, Shaban Mahmud, Jamal Hossain and Subhash Chandra Singh Roy.
The others include Mozammel Haque Babu, editor-in-chief of Ekattor TV, Shakil Ahmed, the station’s former head of news, and Farzana Rupa, its principal correspondent.
The cards of Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of The Daily Obsever, Shyamal Dutta, editor of the Dainik Bhorer Kagoj, Munni Saha, chief news editor at ATN News, Nayeemul Islam Khan, editor-in-chief of Amader Shomoy.com, Mohammed Arifur Rahman, editor of Dhaka Times, Abul Kalam Azad, former managing director of BSS, and Pranab Saha, editor of DBC News, have also been revoked.
The others who lost their press accreditation are Zafar Wazed, former director general of the Press Institute of Bangladesh, and freelance journalists Mithila Farzana and Syed Borhan Kabir.