BCB apologises after security personnel assault journalist

The Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] has apologised after their security personnel assaulted a journalist during the third day of the one-off Test between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Dhaka. BCB director Ismail Haider Mallick came to the press box within the hour of the incident, and assured that the people involved would be withdrawn from duty for at least one year.

Mallick further added that the BCB is still in the process of identifying all the individuals who assaulted Tasfiq Shahriar, who works for the Cricfrenzy website. He vowed that the BCB would look further into improving the overall behaviour of the security staff.

The trouble started when Shahriar was waiting for one of his colleagues to bring his accreditation card so that he could enter the press box during the third day's play. One of the security personnel told him to stand across the street. Journalists usually wait near Gate No.1 of the Shere Bangla National Stadium, and Shahriar moved away from that spot when asked to.

Suddenly one of the security staff swooped onto Shahriar and attacked him. He was talking to another journalist at the time. Shahriar has claimed that three to five persons attacked him, and left him with bruises on his nose and throat.

This is not the first time that BCB security guards have had run-ins with journalists. Major incidents took place in 2006, 2015 and 2016.There have also been several unreported incidents involving security guards and journalists at the board headquarters in Mirpur.