Directed by the EC, senior officials of its secretariat are now scrutinising a large number of files and documents of the period between April 2002 and January 2007 to find out whether there was any abuse of power by Zakaria that merits prosecution, sources said.

Zakaria had been the EC secretary who later was appointed as an election commissioner during the period the commission was consistently mired in controversies.

"The Election Commission will send the matter to the Anti-corruption Commission for legal actions against SM Zakaria if the allegations of misconduct against him are found to be true," a highly placed source close to the EC told The Daily Star.

The EC is determined to take steps against Zakaria, if he is found guilty, to set an example as part of its move to untarnish its image, the sources said.

Some district election officers recently placed to the EC written allegations of irregularities against Zakaria during his tenure as the EC secretary, the sources added.

Zakaria assumed the post of the EC secretary on April 1, 2002 and continued in that post till his appointment as an election commissioner on January 16, 2006.

Being the EC secretary, Zakaria locked horns with the erstwhile chief election commissioner (CEC) MA Syed and avoided attending the commission's meetings. Irked by his attitude, the former CEC requested the immediate past government on several occasions to transfer Zakaria from the EC Secretariat, but the government appointed him as an election commissioner instead on January 16, 2006. The controversial man finally resigned from the post of a commissioner on January 31 this year facing severe criticisms.

Zakaria provided a section of officials, who were close to him, with undue facilities --- like promotions and vehicles, the sources said. The officials close to him also dominated the EC Secretariat and enjoyed other financial facilities, the sources added.

Mohammad Zakoria, who had been a close aide to Zakaria and who had been promoted to the post of joint secretary to the EC Secretariat, was recently made an officer on special duty, sending chills of fear down the spines of other alleged government flunkeys of Zakaria.

Before being promoted to the post of a government secretary, Zakaria was the national project director of Strengthening Election and Democracy, a project funded by UNDP. There are allegations of financial irregularities in the project's implementation. The EC also plans to look into whether Zakaria was involved in the alleged irregularities.