Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, former Information Advisor to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and a senior journalist, was taken from the DBC News office in Mohakhali on Wednesday by people identifying themselves as Detective Branch (DB) police.
At the same time, DBC reporter Rajib Ghosh was also removed from the same office.
DBC News Chief Reporter Abu Daud Khan confirmed the incident to Asia Post, saying:
“It is true. DB police came and took him from the office. Right now we know nothing more. We are trying to contact the DB to find out what has happened.”
A DB official later indicated that a team acting on higher instructions had brought Chowdhury to the DB office. Multiple cases related to 5 August are said to exist against him, but it remains unclear whether the move is for formal arrest in those cases or only for questioning.
Other outlets reported he was being questioned over an “untoward incident,” with no immediate confirmation of formal arrest.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, then Information Advisor to Sheikh Hasina and a long-time journalist, is the founding chairman of DBC News and editor of The Daily Observer. He is also a former president of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ).
The action inside a working newsroom has amplified existing concerns voiced by human rights and press-freedom groups.
Organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and PEN International have repeatedly warned about a pattern in Bangladesh of journalists and media figures being detained, subjected to prolonged pre-trial custody, or targeted under security and criminal cases—often linked to reporting or past affiliations.
These groups have highlighted risks of arbitrary detention, weak due-process safeguards, and the chilling effect on independent journalism, including cases in which journalists have remained in jail for extended periods without trial while cases proceed slowly.
The simultaneous removal of both a senior media figure and a working reporter from the DBC premises is being viewed by many in the media community as fitting that broader pattern of concern over journalist persecution and detention practices.