Sayed Khan, Dhaka correspondent of The Mirror Asia, a German newspaper, was put on five-day remand on Friday.

He was picked up by a team of Detective Branch from his house in the capital’s Moghbazar on Thursday night. Then Sayed, organising secretary of Dhaka Journalist Union (DUJ), was finally shown arrested at Mirpur police station in a case filed over setting the metro rail on fire.

Sayed along with main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) student affairs secretary Rafiqul Islam and three others have been arrested in the same case and put on five-day remand.

In a joint statement on Friday, factions of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and DUJ strongly condemned the arrest and demanded immediate release of Sayed.

BFUJ president Ruhul Amin Gazi and general secretary Quader Gani Chowdhury and DJU president Md Shahidul Islam and general secretary Khurshid Alam said in the statement that through this arrest, the government set yet another awful example to stifle free journalism and freedom of expression.

He had been covering the government’s use of force and indiscriminate killings of those who took part in the anti-quota student protests that killed at least four journalists.

‘Sixty-six journalists were killed during the tenure of this government, and hundreds of journalists have been tortured, while many others had to migrate to save their lives,’ the statement said. An atmosphere of fear has been created by filing cases against editors and journalists in the country.

In another statement, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) condemned Sayed’s arrest and urged the law enforcers to not harass the journalists on duty. DRU has expressed concern over the arrest of journalist Saeed Khan and the disappearance of another journalist, Asif Shawkat Kallol.

DRU President Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo and General Secretary Mohi Uddin in a release expressed concern over these incidents.

The leaders said the two DRU members travel to different places to perform their professional duties. They urged law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of journalists to perform their professional duties properly.

Saeed Khan's wife informed DRU that her husband was picked up from their home by individuals identifying themselves as police on Thursday night. He was shown arrested in a case on Friday.

On the other hand, Asif Shawkat Kallol's wife reported that her husband did not return home on Thursday night and has been unreachable by phone.

The leaders have sought law enforcement assistance in finding Kallol and have called for ensuring that journalists are not unnecessarily harassed and their safety is secured while they are performing their professional duties.

At least 211 people, including journalists, students and children, were killed during the protests demanding reform of the quota system in government jobs that started on July 1.