Geneva: Bangladesh, engulfed with political unrest while heading for its national election on 12 February 2026, recorded the murder of journalist Rana Pratap Bairagi, who incidentally becomes the first journo-victim across the world this year. The global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) strongly condemned the shooting down of Bairagi (45) and demanded a thorough probe to identify the culprits for punishment under the law.
Local media reports stated that Bairagi, a resident of Arua village in Jessore locality of south Bangladesh, was fatally shot in his head by three miscreants on 5 January 2026. The editor of a Bengali newspaper titled Dainik BD Khabar was found dead at Kopalia Bazar with his throat also slit. Son of a Hindu schoolteacher in Keshabpur upazila, Bairagi also ran an ice-making factory in Kopalia market. Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (https://www.pressemblem.ch/pec-news) has urged Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim government in Dhaka, to take interest in delivering justice to the bereaved family.
PEC’s south and southeast Asian representative Nava Thakuria informed that the Muslim majority nation has lately drawn international media attention for recent socio-political turmoil, where many religious minority families were attacked by radical elements across the country of over 170 million people. Last year, the south Asian country also witnessed the murder of five media professionals namely Assaduzzaman Tuhin (Dainik Pratidiner Kagoj), Bibhuranjan Sarkar (Ajker Patrika), Wahed-uz-Zaman Bulu (Dainik Ajker Kagoj), Khandahar Shah Alam (Dainik Matrijagat) and Imdadul Haque Milon (Bartaman Somoy).
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