C T Online Desk: Authorities are scrutinizing a list of yaba traders in Bangladesh, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Sunday.
The home minister’s statement came after the recent denouncement of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) and a fraction of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) over the filing of a case against two journalists by a government-listed yaba peddler.
“However, it does not mean someone is a criminal if their name is found on the list,” he told reporters after a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Cox’s Bazar.
The minister said authorities will only take steps after verifying the list.
In response to a question about the recent abduction cases in Rohingya camps, the home minister said the government is aware of the matter.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan went to Cox’s Bazar on Friday.
DRU and a fraction of the DUJ condemned the filing of the case against the journalist on January 11.
One Shafiullah Shafi filed the Tk100 crore defamation law-suit against the two journalists.
The two journalists are Bangla national daily Dainik Bangla Editor (acting) Sharifuzzaman Pintu and Special Correspondent Arifuzzaman Tuhin.
On the government’s list of the 255 most wanted yaba traders, Shafi’s name is listed in third place, said the journalist bodies.
The case was filed with the court of Cox’s Bazar Senior Judicial Magistrate on January 9 while the news was published last Friday at the Dainik Bangla under the title “None from Bodi’s companions among the list of 255”.
The media article basically stated that the government had created a fresh list of yaba traders and that no men from the alleged yaba godfather Bodi, a former MP from Cox’s Bazar-4 constituency, were on it.
