JL leader offers fake money to voters, now threatens with legal action

He provided fake currency notes to voters in exchange of commitment for voting him in the zila parishad election and asked them not to use the money before the polls take place.

He won the election as per plan and the voters, in the meantime, sensed the deception. When they informed the winning zila parishad member about the fake currency, he threatened to hand them over to the police on charges of keeping fake currency.

The incident took place in Sirajganj and the deceiver was identified as Suman Sarker, a member candidate from ward No-4 and leader of Raiganj upazila Jubo League. At least seven union parishad members came up with the complaint against him, but declined to identify themselves.

The election to Sirajganj zila parishad was held on Monday.

The UP members told Prothom Alo that after receiving bundles of money on the previous night, they went to the Dhangara Model High School center of Raiganj upazila and voted for Suman in the election.

Later, they went to shops with the money given by the candidate and found all the notes fake. When they contacted the candidate over the issue, he clarified that whoever is found with the fake notes will be arrested by the police.

Suman Sarker is general secretary of Jubo League’s Raiganj upazila unit. He has been elected as a member with the symbol of electric fan in the zila parishad election.

However, he ruled out the complaint, saying that his rivals are spreading propaganda against him. He did not provide any bundle of fake currency to any UP members. The voters elected him spontaneously with love.

District election officer Shahidul Islam told Prothom Alo that the matter of money transaction in the election is a punishable offence. He has no idea about the alleged transaction of money in the election, but will take action once a complaint is lodged.

Meanwhile, a UP member spoke about another strategy of Suman Sarkar to bag votes. On condition of anonymity, he said Suman cheated not only with fake money but also he resorted to another unique technique.

He went to the voters’ residences on the previous night with the holy Quran in his hand and took commitment from the voters for voting him. On the polls day, he told the voters that they promised to vote for him by touching the holy book.