Bangladeshi journalist F.M. Masum, a staff correspondent of the daily New Age in Bangladesh, was on Thursday (22 Oct.) taken from his residence by members of the country’s infamous Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and was then held incommunicado, and brutally tortured, for over ten hours, before being released.

Masum, who had injury marks all over his body and swollen feet when he was released around 10.30 pm on Thursday, was immediately rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

While the reason for Masum’s arrest and assault remains unclear, and an official source told IPI members in Bangladesh that he was tortured “by mistake,” news reports noted that Masum had written numerous reports on alleged human rights violations, especially at the hands of the RAB.

“I welcome the Home Minister’s public statement regretting the incident and also welcome the government’s decision to withdraw the concerned RAB member from duty,“ said IPI Board Member Bulbul Monjurul Ahsan, Head of News & Current Affairs at ATN Bangla in Dhaka. “But I demand an urgent and transparent inquiry to find out the responsible person and ensure exemplary punishment. I also demand that the government should bear all related costs of Masum’s treatment.”

Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun, who visited Masum in hospital on Sunday together with State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haq Tuku, expressed regret at Masum’s inhumane treatment and pledged that the RAB members responsible for torturing him would be punished: “Nobody will be spared of his or her misdeed. The government will not tolerate any unlawful activities by anybody.”

According to news reports, the person allegedly responsible for torturing the reporter was withdrawn from RAB-10.

“Sahara Khatun’s prompt intervention and her promise to bring those responsible to justice is an important sign of Bangladesh’s understanding of the importance of ending impunity, which has plagued the country for too long,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “IPI will be carrying out a press freedom mission to Bangladesh at the beginning of December and we will seek to discuss the case with government ministers, to ensure that the government lives up to international standards on human rights and freedom of the press.”

Masum also complained that he was not allowed to file a case against the RAB. He said that the Jatrabari police received a copy of his complaint on Saturday evening but did not record it as a case, according to news reports.