I, Nuruzzaman Mandal, pen name Nuruzzaman Labu, am a professional journalist with more than a decade of experience in crime and investigative reporting, covering mainly crimes, with a focus on terrorism, human trafficking and human rights. I take a particular interest in doing in-depth stories.
I am currently working as a senior reporter and head of crime at Bangladesh’s one of the most read online news portal Bangla Tribune (www.banglatribune.com). In the last 12 years into journalism, I worked for the country’s most influential media organizations like the daily Manabzamin, the daily Shokaler Khabor, the daily Jaijaidin and the weekly 2000 and the fortnightly Anyadin. I received a number of awards from different organizations and institutes for investigating reporting as well as my own houses for best performances.
Of the numerous incidents that I covered as a crime reporter and investigative journalist, the biggest one was the deadly Holey Artisan terror attack in 2016 killing scores of people in the upscale Dhaka café including several Italian, Japanese nationals and its aftermath, for which militant group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility. I have documented all the findings that came through my extensive investigation into the incident in the book titled as ‘Holey Artisan, A Journalistic Investigation,’ the first and only of its kind, published in the following year.
Also I am a member of Dhaka Reporters unity (DRU), an association of Dhaka based reporters, and Bangladesh Crime Reporters Association (CRAB), Dhaka Union of Journalist (DUJ).