Group attack and attempted murder on Bangla Press Editor Chhabed Sathee in New York

Staff Reporter: Following the publication of a news report on an online portal, an expatriate Bangladeshi terrorist group carried out a group attack and attempted murder on U.S.-based journalist and Bangla Press editor Chhabed Sathee. The group was led by New York’s notorious home-care businessman Shah Nawaz. The incident occurred near the front entrance of LaGuardia Marriott Hotel in New York around 10 p.m. last Sunday (August 24).

After assaulting him, the attackers falsely accused him of the police and handed the victim over. As soon as this heinous incident spread, Bangladeshi expatriates expressed strong condemnation and outrage.

According to reports, journalist Chhabed Sathee had attended a social gathering (Milan Mela) of former officials of the Bangladesh Society of New York at the LaGuardia Marriott Hotel auditorium around 7 p.m. Upon arrival, he joined the program, which went on for about an hour and a half. Later, Bangladesh Society’s current Trustee Board Chairman and notorious home-care businessman Shah Nawaz entered the venue with a terrorist group of four to five men without prior registration and without informing organizers. He instructed them to position themselves at different entrances.

They began monitoring Chhabed Sathee and even approached his wife Amena Nawaz alias Rano, whispering to her while she frequently checked her phone messages. Sensing their suspicious behavior, Chhabed went to the restroom after dinner, where the group followed him, apparently intending to attack. But spotting former politician Alauddin Khan Bulu, a well-known figure in New York, inside the restroom, they backed off.

Later, as Shabed tried to go to the parking lot from the hall, the group followed him. He returned to the lobby, and again tried another exit toward the parking area, where the attackers confronted him and tried to provoke an argument over two recently published news reports. Present at the time were M.M. Shaheen (Chairman of the Editorial Board of Weekly Thikana), Dr. Wazed (Editor of Weekly Bangladesh), and Ratan Talukdar (Editor of Weekly Janmobhumi). In front of them, the attackers began a heated altercation with Chhabed Sathee.

Sensing trouble, when Chhabed moved forward, Shah Nawaz quickly ordered his men to beat him, while hurling obscene abuse and even physically assaulting him himself. He reportedly shouted: “What are you waiting for? Kill this bastard!”

When Chhabed reported the matter to the receptionist desk, they advised him to call the police. He complied, and even a security officer on duty spoke to the police over his phone. According to hotel operations manager Jodana Young, the entire scene was captured on the hotel’s CCTV cameras.

Chhabed again requested the front desk to call the police, but they instead asked him to fill out an incident report form. As he was filling it out, the police arrived. The attackers, however, lodged a false complaint against him, and Shah Nawaz pointed at Chhabed, ordering the police: “Arrest him!” The police ignored Chhabed’s plea to check the CCTV footage, and did not listen to his account. The incident of misleading the police was also recorded on the body cameras of 7–8 responding officers.

The following day, during a bail hearing, Chhabed’s lawyer filed a petition in court to obtain the hotel’s CCTV footage. News of the terrorist-style attack has sparked a storm of criticism and concern among Bangladeshi expatriates in New York and across the United States.