They line up to 'vote' when TV camera appears

There weren't many voters around 10:00am at Gulshan Model School in Dhaka-17 constituency, but suddenly about 20 individuals got together and formed a queue in front of the polling centre when several TV cameras appeared to cover the polls situation.

When the channels were done capturing footage after a minute, the queue slowly started to disperse, with only two or three people entering the polling centre.

One man in the queue, Samir Barua from Chattogram opted not to enter. Asked why he hadn't entered, he said he would vote later.

When asked about his residence and voter registration number, he replied, "I reside in the Shiddeshwari area and came here as a party activist, belonging to Swechchhasebakk League. I stood in the queue with instructions from the leaders."

Another individual, who did not provide his name, claimed to be a registered voter and said he would cast his vote soon.

A few minutes later, Mohammad A Arafat, the Awami League candidate for the constituency, entered the centre.

Upon entering, he paused and instructed the accompanying crowd not to enter the premises without being legitimate voters registered at that polling centre.

Despite the instructions, some of them entered with him without showing any credentials to the police at the gate.

The school had five centres, and voter turnout was low as of 12:00pm.

According to Nazmul, a presiding officer at one of the centres, 141 votes were cast by 12:00pm out of 2,500 registered voters.