Sacked Ekattor TV journalists Shakil, Rupa arrested in murder case at Dhaka airport

They are detained while attempting to board a flight to France

Ekattor Television’s former head of news Shakil Ahmed and its former chief correspondent Farzana Rupa have been detained at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport in connection with a murder case filed at Uttara East Police Station.

The journalist couple were detained on Wednesday morning while attempting to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Paris via Istanbul.

An immigration official said the couple was scheduled to depart at 6:20am when they were intercepted by authorities.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Mainul Hasan told bdnews24.com that they were later taken into police custody.

According to a statement from the DMP on Wednesday evening, Shakil and Rupa were arrested under sections 302, 114, and 109 of the Bangladesh Penal Code.

Ekattor Media Limited dismissed the two from their senior positions at the media outlet on Aug 8.

The couple have a daughter.

Abdul Kader and Abdul Hannan Masud, coordinators of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, sent a letter to the acting president and acting general secretary of the National Press Club on Aug 10.

The letter included a list of 50 journalists and alleged they supported the police and the ruling party and accused them of committing 'crimes against humanity' against students.

The names of Shakil and Rupa appeared on the list. The student movement leaders have called for a ‘ban’ on these journalists.