Man shot dead in front of hospital is not Prothom Alo journalist
A video on Facebook claims that top Prothom Alo journalist Mamunur Rahman was killed in a militant attack in front of Dhaka National Medical College Hospital. But Dismislab’s fact-check shows that the man shot dead was Tariq Saif Mamun. Reports from several news outlets, citing police, said Saif was a listed criminal. Prothom Alo also confirmed to Dismislab that he was not an employee of the newspaper.
A video posted on Facebook shows a man lying on the road covered in blood. The caption reads: “In front of Dhaka National Medical, top Prothom Alo journalist Mamunur Rahman killed in a militant attack… He was killed because he reported against militant groups. #Terrorist_Attack #Dhaka #Bangladesh.”
A keyframe search of the video found a report from “Dainik Amader Barta.” A photo in the report shows a man lying on the road, matching the video exactly. The report, citing Fazlul Haque, assistant commissioner of Kotwali Zone Police, said a man was shot dead in front of National Medical College Hospital in Old Dhaka. But the report did not identify the victim.
Searching further by keywords, several news reports (1, 2, 3) were found. According to these reports, a man named Tariq Saif Mamun, 55, was shot dead in front of National Medical College Hospital on 10 November.
Citing Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami, DMP’s Lalbagh Division’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DC), the daily Ittefaq reported, “The victim, Mamun, was a listed top criminal. We are trying to arrest those who fired the shots.” Prothom Alo also published a report titled, “Man shot dead in Old Dhaka was ‘top criminal’ Mamun, police say.” None of the reports mention that the victim was a journalist.
Contacted, Prothom Alo authorities told Dismislab that the victim was not employed by the newspaper.
Therefore, the Facebook video claiming that top Prothom Alo journalist Mamunur Rahman was killed in a militant attack is false. The victim was not a journalist for Prothom Alo. News reports, citing police, describe him as a top criminal.
