Bayan took Tk 20,000 to register Rohingyas as voters: Police

The election commission's temporary data entry operator Bayan Uddin has been arrested in a case filed on charges of National Identity (NID) forgery in Chattogram.

Police said Bayan registered Rohingyas as voters for Tk 20,000 at a house of another data entry operator Joynal Abedin.

Bayan was arrested on Friday by Counter Terrorism Unit of Chattogram police from Matarbari area of Maheskhali upazila in Cox's Bazar.

Deputy commissioner of Chattogram police, Faruqul Haque, said Bayan's name came up in the confessional statements of several EC data entry operators who were arrested earlier.

According to the statement, Bayan had links with another EC data entry operator Joynal Abedin. Bayan joined the voter list update work as a temporary data entry operator through Joynal Abedin in 2017. He worked as data entry operator in the Chattogram port area, Pahartali, Panchlaish, Rauzan and Satkania.

Faruqul Haque also said Bayan and Joynal would visit the district election commission office at Love Lane of the city.

With the help of Nazibullah and Absarullah, agents for Rohingya, Bayan registered Rohingyas as voters at Joynal's house. Joynal gave him (Bayan) Tk 20,000 every week for the task. Joynal is now on bail.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, police inspector Sanjoy Kumar Sinha said the court on Friday granted a two-day remand for Bayan.

As many as 18 people have been arrested. Meanwhile, six accused have given confessional statements in court.

A case was filed on charges of NID forgery under the Digital Security Act on 22 August 2019.

Four days earlier, a certain Rohingya woman Lucky Akhter was arrested while collecting a smart card at the district election commission office in Chattogram. Later, the issue of NID forgery came to light.