Nazrul Islam Mithu, president of the Overseas Correspondents Association Bangladesh and Deutsche Presse-Agentur Bangladesh correspondent, was barred from travelling to China at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Sunday afternoon.

Mithu confirmed the incident in a Facebook post and later told New Age that immigration officials stopped him before denying him departure.

‘I was going to China and the immigration official halted me and then denied me to fly abroad,’ he said.

Special Branch chief Sardar Nurul Amin, also an additional inspector general of police, said Mithu was stopped following ‘observation’ from an intelligence agency.

‘I cannot say anything more. The agency can explain better why they had observation over his travel,’ he said, without naming the agency.

The incident occurred on World Press Freedom Day 2026, observed in Bangladesh and elsewhere with this year’s theme ‘Shaping a Future at Peace: Promoting Press Freedom for Human Rights, Development, and Security.’

In his Facebook post, Mithu described being approached by intelligence personnel at the airport.

‘Four field officers from intelligence agencies approached me,’ he wrote. ‘One of them asked, “Are you the president of any organisation? OCAB or something?” I replied in the affirmative.’

He further said officials checked his details and later informed him that police had found nothing against him.

‘The SP came out again with my passport in hand. He led me to a corner and said, “We found nothing against you. You are cleared as far as the police are concerned.” He added that I would have to wait until agency clearance came through,’ Mithu wrote.

‘He also said that freedom of movement is a fundamental right, including the right to leave any country and return to one’s own,’ he added.