| Zulkarnain Saer Khan | |
| Occupation: | journalist |
Zulkarnain Saer Khan is a U.K.-based exiled Bangladeshi journalist and a member of Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit.[1] He is a researcher at Organized Crime and Corruption Project Reporting (OCCRP).[2] He had risen to fame after working on and appearing in Al Jazeeras widely discussed 2021 documentary All the Prime Minister's Men.[3]
Khan is working with several prominent media organisations worldwide, including Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit), Netra News, Haaretz, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Bangla Outlook to produce comprehensive investigative reports on Bangladesh.[4]
In 2021, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police have pressed charges against Zulkarnain Saer Khan alias Sami and six others in a case filed under the Digital Security Act for "spreading rumours and carrying out anti-government activities".[5] Digital Security Act is alleged to be used in Bangladesh to crack down on political dissent and investigative journalist.
In March 2023, Khan's brother Mahinur Khan was beaten with iron rods by four unidentified men while out grocery shopping in the Shewrapara, a neighbourhood of Dhaka.[6] The US Embassy in Bangladesh and UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders urges thorough probe into alleged attack.[7]
In September 2024, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit published a documentary on Former land minister of Bangladesh Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Zulkarnain, the lead investigator of the documentary titled 'The Minister's Millions' said, Chowdhury has built a property empire worth at least $675 million, with plush properties in the UK, the US and the UAE.[8] Authorities in Bangladesh have frozen his bank accounts and are now investigating claims Chowdhury laundered millions of dollars into the UK.[9]