NSI, DGFI controlled the 2018 voting

Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has admitted before the court that vote rigging took place in the 2018 parliamentary elections, including the stuffing of ballot boxes with sealed ballot papers the night before polling day.

In his statement to the court, he further said that various irregularities, including the ballot box stuffing, occurred due to the direct interference of the Awami League.

Nurul Huda claimed that he later realised that the entire electoral system was controlled by officials of the intelligence agencies National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).

The 11th National Parliament elections were held on 30 December 2018. Immediately following the election, allegations of vote rigging became a subject of widespread discussion both within the country and abroad.

Nearly seven years later, the then chief election commissioner himself has brought up the matter of electoral irregularities in a statement recorded under Section 164 of the Penal Code. His statement has been confirmed by relevant sources.

Former CEC Nurul Huda gave the confessional statement under Section 164 of the Penal Code at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court in Dhaka on Tuesday. The statement was recorded by Additional CMM Md. Ziadur Rahman of the CMM Court.

Nurul Huda was arrested on 22 June in a case filed by a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in the capital on charges of vote rigging.

The day after his arrest, he told the court in his defence that the 2018 election was indeed controversial. He also claimed that the election commission was not responsible for that controversy.

Following this, he was taken into police custody for eight days of remand in two phases and was interrogated. He is currently in jail.

Another former CEC, Kazi Habibul Awal, is also in jail after being arrested in the same case.

On election day, 30 December, the BNP submitted a written complaint to the election commission, stating, "In at least 150 constituencies, ballots were sealed and stuffed into boxes the night before the election."

In response to questions from journalists at a press conference on 31 December, the day after the election, Nurul Huda had said, "This is completely untrue. The Commission is completely satisfied with this election."

In his statement to the court, Nurul Huda described the role played by the then ruling party, the Awami League, party leaders and activists, officials and employees involved in the electoral process, the police administration, and intelligence agency officers in the irregularities surrounding the 2018 parliamentary elections.

In his statement, the former CEC said, "I believe that the then ruling party, through a centralised plan and in collusion with some corrupt officials of the administration and police, committed irregularities and manipulated votes in the 2018 parliamentary elections during the night. Unusually, 100 per cent voter turnout was shown in some constituencies, which has called into question the credibility of the elections."

Nurul Huda also stated that the irregularities occurred due to the direct intervention of the then ruling party, saying, "I believe that some overly enthusiastic government officials and employees became involved in election irregularities."

The former CEC also referred to the unusual results of the 2018 elections in his statement. He said, "After the elections, I examined the result sheets and saw that in many centres, 90 to 100 per cent of the votes were cast, which I did not find acceptable. I also heard that in many centres, ballot boxes were stuffed with ballots during the night. The voting took place at night."

Nurul Huda also stated in his statement who, in his view, were involved in these activities.

He said, "I believe this incident occurred under the influence of the ruling party Awami League with the cooperation of their party workers, the police in charge, the returning officers, and the assistant returning officers. The then ruling party Awami League is entirely responsible for this incident. I believe that this anarchic situation and electoral irregularities were carried out while keeping me and the other commission members in the dark."

The former CEC also implicated top officials of Bangladesh’s two main intelligence agencies. “I later came to understand that the entire election system was being controlled by the intelligence agencies—NSI and DGFI,” he told the court. “The ballot boxes were filled with sealed ballots before the election day. Voting was conducted in several constituencies in abnormal ways that undermined the credibility of the election.” 

The National Security Intelligence (NSI) operates under the Prime Minister’s Office, while the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) is under the Ministry of Defence.

During the 2018 election, NSI was led by Maj. Gen. (retd.) TM Zubair and DGFI by Maj. Gen. (retd.) Md. Saiful Abedin.

Both former intelligence chiefs are currently under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for allegedly amassing wealth beyond their known sources of income. Their bank accounts have been frozen, and the court has imposed a travel ban at the ACC’s request. 

Efforts to contact Saiful Abedin and T M Zubair for comment on Nurul Huda’s statement were unsuccessful.

In his statement, Nurul Huda said that many members of the police were involved in stuffing ballot boxes during the night. “The police officers working at the time did not cooperate with me in any way. They withheld the truth from me. In some cases, I heard that they themselves had stuffed the ballot boxes the night before. I received complaints of mass arrests of BNP leaders and activists before the election. I spoke with senior police officials about this. They told me that arrest warrants had been issued by the court against those individuals.”

He claimed that he was unable to take any action in this matter. 

He further said, “This anarchic situation and the electoral irregularities were carried out while keeping me and my fellow commission members in the dark. We were quite embarrassed by it. Since we do not have the authority to cancel the election after the gazette has been published, I could not annul the election.” 

Nurul Huda added, “The election commission conducts elections through returning officers and assistant returning officers. But I believe these officials were influenced by the then ruling party and kept the election commission completely in the dark, creating opportunities for vote rigging in the 2018 election.”

Explaining the lack of direct complaints, he said, “There may be two reasons why I did not receive any complaints regarding the 2018 11th National Parliament election. First, officials and staff on the ground may have been silenced with money, without my knowledge. Secondly, many employees—including Ansars and schoolteachers—were likely afraid of losing their jobs due to political pressure.  

However, I believe that those in power at the time, and who later came to power through the election, distributed money to selected beneficiaries in an organised, centralised manner and conducted the voting the night before election day—because they held political authority at the time.

Helal Uddin Ahmed was the secretary of the election commission during the 2018 election. He is currently in jail after being arrested in a murder case following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in the wake of a mass uprising.

Regarding Helal Uddin Ahmed’s role, Nurul Huda said, “I find his role suspicious. Since he came from the administration cadre, it was possible for him to influence both the returning officers and assistant returning officers.”

Emphasising the importance of political goodwill in ensuring free and fair elections, Nurul Huda said, “It is not possible to hold a neutral election under the instigation and interference of the ruling party. I believe that, in such circumstances, some overly enthusiastic government officials and employees became involved in election irregularities.”

He also informed the court about his nephew, SM Shahzada, becoming a Member of Parliament from the Patuakhali-3 constituency with the ruling Awami League’s boat symbol. “In the 2018 election, my nephew (SM Shahzada) became an MP candidate from the Patuakhali-3 constituency. He was elected on the ruling party’s symbol. I had no involvement in his nomination. He had long been involved in local politics, although he did not hold any official position. Still, as my nephew, it seems he received some added visibility.”

Speaking about the allegation of holding the election at night instead of during the day, Nurul Huda’s lawyer Obaidul Islam told Prothom Alo, “My client, Nurul Huda, has been arrested simply to harass him. We do not know whether he has said anything in his statement that implicates himself.”

On the other hand, Chief Public Prosecutor (PP) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, Omar Faruq Faruqui, told Prothom Alo, “Even after learning about the electoral irregularities, Nurul Huda did not take any action. Instead, by allowing vote stuffing at night, he brought Sheikh Hasina to power.”

All three national elections held during the tenure of Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister ousted in a student-led mass uprising, have been subject to controversy.

The 2014 election was one-sided, the 2018 election became known as the “night vote”, and the 2024 election has been dubbed the “dummy vote”.

Former election commissioner, the late Mahbub Talukder, expressed regret in an interview with Prothom Alo about the 30 December 2018 election, saying, “The 11th National Parliamentary Election brought us nothing but the disgrace of failure.”

To investigate the allegations surrounding these three controversial national elections, the interim government formed a committee on 26 June.

A member of the committee, Md. Abdul Alim told Prothom Alo on Wednesday that Nurul Huda could have resigned from his position. Instead, he continued to support the then government.

He added that had Nurul Huda resigned, the government might have harassed him, but the nation would have regarded him as a hero.

When asked whether the investigation committee has begun its work, Abdul Alim said they will begin very soon.

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition in Bangla, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat