A journalist in Pabna’s Bhangura upazila has been sued for alleged extortion after publishing a report about a BNP leader accused of fraud. The case was filed on Tuesday in the Pabna Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court by Shikha Khatun, wife of the accused BNP leader Sohel Rana. The journalist, Masud Rana, is the joint general secretary of Bhangura Press Club and a correspondent for the daily Kaler Kantho.

Earlier, on Friday night, Sohel Rana was beaten and tied up by locals who accused him of defrauding them of large sums of money by promising government benefits such as VGD cards, tube wells, latrines, and houses. The next day, 35 victims filed a fraud case against him at Bhangura Police Station. Sohel Rana, a ward-level BNP vice president from Rangalia village, was later sent to jail after seeking bail in court.

Following the lawsuit against Masud Rana, Bhangura Press Club leaders and local journalists expressed deep concern, condemning the case as false and demanding its withdrawal.