MSN condemns killing of journalist Lutfuzzaman Fakir Alif, demands swift investigation and arrest of killers

The Society for Media Support Network (MSN) strongly condemns the killing of journalist Lutfuzzaman Fakir Alif, who was shot dead in Durgapur upazila of Netrokona on the night of Thursday, 15 October, and calls on the authorities to bring those responsible to justice without delay. “MSN condemns the murder of Lutfuzzaman Fakir Alif in the strongest terms. We demand a swift and thorough investigation to uncover the motive behind this killing and the immediate arrest of those responsible. Justice for Alif must not be delayed,” said Mainul Islam Khan, Chairperson of MSN. Alif, 44, was the Netrokona correspondent of the private IPTV channel Ruposhi Bangla. He also ran a Facebook page called Detective Article, where he published reports and videos on alleged irregularities and crime in the area. Before leaving home that evening, he gave his one and a half year old son to his wife, Anandita Sangma, and told her not to wait up. “I will be a little late getting home, I am busy working on a news story,” he said, according to Prothom Alo. Shortly after 8pm, at a roadside tea stall in the Telonjia area of Durgapur, about 20 yards from his in laws’ home where he lived, two young men walked up and asked the shopkeeper for cigarettes. They then fired several shots at Alif in quick succession and fled. He was taken to Durgapur Upazila Health Complex, where a doctor declared him dead. Anandita was feeding their two children when she heard the shots. She told Prothom Alo she first mistook them for firecrackers until people began saying her husband had been killed. A post mortem at Netrokona Sadar Hospital on Friday found six bullet wounds on his body, including three in the chest and one that entered his forehead and exited the back of his head. The physician who conducted the autopsy, Shraddhyananda Nath, told The Daily Star that the wounds initially suggested Alif had been shot from the front. Police recovered pistol cartridge cases and one unexploded round from the scene. It was not the first attempt on his life. On 10 November 2025, assailants hacked and injured Alif near Teribazar Ghat on the Someshwari River in Durgapur and chased off a colleague who tried to intervene. Alif filed a case over that attack, and police arrested two named accused, who are now out on bail, Prothom Alo reported. That attack, MSN believes, should have been a warning. Instead, it became an introductory event. On Friday night, Anandita Sangma filed a murder case with Durgapur Police Station against seven to eight unidentified people. As of Saturday morning, no one had been arrested. Khandakar Shaker Ahmed Khan, officer in charge (OC) of Durgapur Police Station, told The Daily Star that teams from the Special Response Battalion, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), local police, and intelligence agencies were working jointly to identify and arrest those responsible, and that the district superintendent of police had formed an investigation team led by the additional superintendent of police (crime). Netrokona Superintendent of Police Md Tarikul Islam said the initial assessment was that the killing had been planned in advance. Alif was buried on Friday in his family graveyard in Pogla union of Kalmakanda upazila. His family has demanded the swift arrest of the killers. His elder brother, Shahid Islam Fakir, told Prothom Alo that Alif had made many enemies through his journalism and called for exemplary punishment for those responsible. Anandita, now left alone with their four year old daughter and infant son, said she wants the killers identified and brought to justice. The killing has drawn condemnation at home and abroad. Ain o Salish Kendra called for a neutral and effective investigation, noting that the state had failed to ensure Alif’s safety even after the 2025 attack. The International Federation of Journalists, together with its Bangladeshi affiliate, the Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum, called the murder a direct assault on press freedom and said a culture of impunity for crimes against journalists persists in Bangladesh. MSN joins these calls. It urges investigators to determine whether the killing is linked to Alif’s journalism and to the November 2025 attack and to keep the public informed as the investigation proceeds. It also calls on the authorities to put effective protection in place for journalists who have already been attacked or threatened so that a known danger is not left to run its course. For journalists working outside Dhaka, the case carries a familiar weight. District correspondents, many of them working for small outlets or their own platforms, often report on the very people they live alongside, with little institutional protection when that reporting provokes a response. Alif’s death shows how thin that protection remains. MSN extends its deepest condolences to Alif’s family, his colleagues, and the journalist community in Netrokona, and stands with them in their demand for justice.