Derai’s OC working for AL candidate, alleges MP Jaya Sengupta

Independent candidate and current lawmaker of SunamganJ-2 Jaya Sengupta complained the officer-in-charge of Derai police station is working in favour of Awami League candidate in the 12th national election.

Jaya, the current Awami League lawmaker, filed a written complaint with the chief election commissioner (CEC) accusing OC Ikhtiar Uddin Chowdhury of intimidating voters to cast vote for AL candidate Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mahmud.

The AL candidate is the younger brother of inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. Mahmud is the general secretary of AL’s Shalla upazila.

He resigned from the post of upazila chairman to contest in the parliamentary polls.

Jaya is the current lawmaker from AL and the wife of late Awami League senior leader Suranjit Sengupta. Jaya failed to get the party ticket in this election.

OC Ikhtiar Uddin, however, denied the allegation of working for AL candidate.

“I cannot take any side as a government official. I’ve been discharging my duties with hundred per cent neutrality,” he said.

Jaya Sengupta in her written complaint wrote that the OC has recently been posted in Derai police station. Immediately after being posted here, he started intimidating the supporters of Jaya. He is threatening the voters to frame in police assault cases and sabotage cases.

“The OC is summoning some of my voters and activists to the police station and indirectly seeking their vote for my opponent Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mahmud. He is introducing himself as a distant relative of that candidate. He’s also issuing threats to some voters not to go to the polling station,” she alleged.

Jaya said the OC should be transferred and an honest officer should be brought in his place for the sake of a free and fair election in the constituency.

Jaya Sengupta did not respond to calls for a comment on her complaint to the EC.

Three candidates are contesting in Sunamganj-2 seat. All of them were the ruling party’s ticket aspirants. The other candidate in this constituency is former secretary of government Mijanur Rahman.

AL sources said, Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mahmud’s father Abdul Mannan Chowdhury was the founding president of Shalla upazila AL and a former chairman of the upazila. But Mahmud is being focused more as the younger brother of current IGP.

Jaya is the wife of veteran politician Suranjit Sengupta, who was elected MP from the constituency several times. Jaya was elected MP for the first time in a by-election held in 2017 after the death of Suranjit Sengupta. She became an MP again in the 11th parliament election. With Jaya contesting this election as an independent candidate, now the supporters of the ruling party have become divided in two camps.

Now Jaya brought the allegation against the OC.  

According to Bangladesh Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1979, no government employees can become a member of any political parties or cannot participate in any political activities in or outside the country.