“What wrong did my son do? What crime had he committed? Why did this happen? I don’t wish harm on anyone, just bring my son back to me.”

These were the heart-wrenching words of Hasan Jamal, father of slain journalist Asaduzzaman Tuhin, as he mourned the loss of his youngest son on Friday.

Nearly 80 years old and frail, Jamal can barely stand without support. Since receiving the news, he has collapsed several times, overcome by grief, while neighbours and relatives struggled to comfort him in their crowded Gazipur home.

Tuhin, a senior reporter with a local news outlet known for his uncompromising coverage of political and criminal affairs, was killed in broad daylight on Thursday near Chandna Chowrasta, a busy intersection in Gazipur. According to witnesses, a group of armed men intercepted him as he was returning from an assignment. Without warning, they opened fire and then attacked with sharp weapons, leaving him bleeding on the roadside as terrified onlookers fled.

The attackers escaped before police arrived. Despite being rushed to hospital, Tuhin was declared dead on arrival. Locals say the killing, carried out in the middle of a bustling commercial area, has left the community shaken, with many fearing it was a targeted assassination linked to his journalism.

As his father clung to a framed photograph of his son, he whispered again and again: “What wrong did my son do? What crime had he committed?”