Inquiries begin on Wednesday into allegations of irregularities in the by-elections to the post of Charbhadrashan upazila parishad chairman in Faridpur. A three-member inquiry committee will begin this task at the conference room of the Faridpur Circuit House. The committee, from 10:30am till 4:00pm, will hear the testimony in seven phases, of those who had been on duty in the election and other relevant persons.
The election commission took initiative to form the three-member inquiry committee following allegations of irregularities in the by-polls. The election took place on 10 October. The election commission has not published the election gazette as yet.
Additional secretary of the election commission, Ashok Kumar Saha, is the convenor of the inquiry committee. The commission’s deputy secretary Md Shaedunnabi Chowdhury is member secretary of the committee with Dhaka Election Institute’s director general Nuruzzaman Talukdar as member.
Confirming the matter, senior district election officer, Nawabul Islam, said the inquiry committee at 10:30am will hear the testimonies of the presiding officer an all the assistant presiding officers of the No. 15 Charbhadrashan Primary School centre. At 11:30am they will hear the testimonies of all chairmen candidates who contested in the upazila parishad by-election.
At 12:30pm the police, ansars and members of village defence party who were deployed at the No. 15 Charbhadrashan Primary School centre, will testify. At 1:15, all the executive magistrates who were on duty at No. 15 Charbhadrashan Primary School centre, will give their statements.
At 2:00pm, the statements of the returning officer and assistant returning officer will be heard. The upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) and the officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station will testify at 3:00pm. Then at 4:00pm, Faridpur deputy commissioner and superintendent of police will present their statements.
Voting was supposed to have been held in 22 centres on 10 October, but the election at No. 15 Charbhadrashan Primary School centre was suspended at the beginnings due to allegation of the ballot boxes being stuffed on the night before the election. There were 2,500 voters at this centre.
The election commission has filed a case against the Faridpur-4 member of parliament, Mujibur Rahman alias Nixon, charging him with violating the election code of conduct three times in connection with this by-election.