In Noakhali, journalists formed a human chain and protest rally against district BNP member and land grabber Abdul Motaleb Apel, demanding withdrawal of a false and fabricated extortion case filed over news reports against the Publisher  and Editor of the daily Sofol Barta, Professor Liakat Ali Khan on Sunday morning. 

 They demanded the case be withdrawn within the next 10 days and the reopening of the newspaper’s office.

Journalists working in print and electronic media in Noakhali organized the human chain and protest rally on the road in front of the Noakhali Press Club.

The event was presided over by former president of Noakhali Press Club Alomgir Yusuf and moderated by Cholti Dhara Weekly editor M.B. Alam. Among the speakers were Borhan Uddin (Noakhali correspondent of Daily Sangram), Mizanur Rahman (Noakhali correspondent of Ekattor TV), Masud Parvez (NTV staff reporter), Muntasim Billah Sabuj (Noakhali correspondent of Jamuna TV), Mahbubur Rahman (Noakhali correspondent of Prothom Alo), Manik Bhuiyan (Asian TV), Akbar Hossain Sohag (News 24), Mohammad Sohel (Nagarik TV), Iqbal Hossain Majnu (Jago News), Azad Bhuiyan (Amar Desh), Imam Uddin Azad (Amar Sangbad), and many others.

Also present were Channel 24 staff reporter Sumon Bhowmik, journalist Jamal Hossain Bishad, GTV's Bikash Sarkar, ATN News’ Fayzul Islam Jahan, Sokaler Somoy district correspondent Md. Selim, NTV Online’s Abdullah Chowdhury, My TV’s Yunus Shikdar, Bangla Vision’s digital reporter Kamrul Kanan, Manab Zamin’s Kabirhat correspondent Zahirul Haque Zahir, Inqilab’s Companyganj correspondent Anwar Toha, Bhorer Kagoj’s Subarnachar correspondent Liton Dutta, Hatia Kantho’s editor M. Dildar Uddin, journalist Mozammel Hossain Kamal, Noya Sokal editor Jewel Rana Liton, Daily Campus Noakhali correspondent Mahmud Faisal, and many other journalists from the district and upazilas.

In the protest, speakers said that for a long time, Abdul Motaleb Apel, a district BNP member, along with a group, has been trying to evict rightful business owners from the Samabay Bank Limited Market in the district town and forcibly occupy the shops. Shop owners are enraged over this forced grabbing. As part of this activity, Apel and his group locked the office of Sofol Barta located on the ground floor of the market. Following this, a series of reports against Abdul Motaleb Apel were published in Sofol Barta on January 1, January 4, and January 20.

Speakers said that in retaliation to these objective reports, BNP leader Abdul Motaleb Apel filed a false case on May 13 at the Noakhali Senior Judicial Magistrate Court, accusing senior journalist and Sofol Barta editor Professor Liakat Ali Khan of demanding Tk 20 lakh in extortion.

The speakers demanded immediate withdrawal of the false and harassing case against journalist Liakat Ali Khan, issuing a 10-day ultimatum. They also demanded the reopening of Sofol Barta newspaper's office.

Besides , from the human chain, journalists demanded the withdrawal of all false cases against journalists across the country and called for an end to journalist harassment and repression.