Gang enters booth, snatches ballot papers, votes for boat

A gang of youths forcibly enters booth at the polling station of Madinatul Ulum Senior Madrasa in 26 no. ward in Gazipur, snatches ballot papers and votes for boat. Photo: Prothom Alo
A gang of youths forcibly enters booth at the polling station of Madinatul Ulum Senior Madrasa in 26 no. ward in Gazipur, snatches ballot papers and votes for boat. Photo: Prothom Alo

A gang of up to 30 youths forcibly entered the polling station of Madinatul Ulum Senior Madrasa in 26 no. ward in Gazipur, snatched ballot papers and stamped ruling Awami League’s election symbol ‘boat’.

The incident took place on Tuesday when Gazipur went to the polls to elect the mayor and councillors for the Gazipur city corporation. The AL fielded Jahangir Alam as its mayoral candidate.

Assistant presiding officer of the polling station, Ekhlasur Rahman, said a group of 20-30 youths all of a sudden entered the polling station and snatched the ballot papers.

He said he suspended the balloting for half an hour after the incident.

When contacted, presiding officer Azharul Islam said he informed the returning officer of the matter. “And the returning officer asked me to continue the balloting and said he will take actions later.”