Gouranga Nandi, a senior staff reporter of the Dainik Janakantha's Khulna bureau told The Daily Star that Nazmul Haq Nannu, APS of whip Ashraf Hossain, called him on his cell phone at around 11pm while he was having his dinner at his house in Sonadanga.

Nannu first asked Nandi to explain why he wrote a news item, published in the Janakantha on Tuesday, detailing arguments between the Khulna mayor and Whip Ashraf.

"As I refused to answer his question, Nannu told me I'll be forced to reply," said Nandi, adding, "When I said I am not bound to reply, he hurled abusive words at me and threatened to give me 'a good lesson'."

"You've witnessed many incidents. You need to be punished for this," Nandi quoted the APS as saying. "He threatened to kill me, saying no one will be able to save me."

Nandi filed a general diary (GD) with the Sonadanga Police Station yesterday, seeking security.

Locals said Nannu had been an armed cadre of the Khalishpur thana unit of BNP's student wing, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, before he was made APS to Whip Ashraf Hossain.

Our Khulna correspondent was unable to reach Nannu over the phone for his version despite repeated attempts yesterday.