<i>Voting sheaf of paddy the key to heaven</i>

Even though campaigning ended Saturday midnight, female Jamaat-e-Islami activists working for BNP candidate Sardar Sharfuddin Ahmed Santu in Barisal-2 yesterday whispered to female voters that "voting for sheaf of paddy will ensure their heaven".
"Sheaf of paddy [election symbol of the BNP] is the key to heaven. Cast vote for the sheaf of paddy, you will go to heaven," Jamaat activist Khaleda Khanam told female voters in a queue after casting vote at Banaripara Union Institution of Uzirpur in the constituency.
“If required, we will buy a vote for Tk 10,000," a woman of a group of five female campaigners was heard whispering to female voters in the queues.
Santu's men engaged 200 female Jamaat activists in the area from December 20 to influence voters to vote for the BNP-led four-party alliance.
These female workers allegedly made female voters promise to vote for BNP by touching the holy Quran, sources said, adding that they were engaged in this new method of campaigning after the death of outlaw leader Abu Zafar Mollah in crossfire on Sunday.
After Zafar's death, Barisal Police Superintendent Tawfique Mahbub Chowdhury said, "A few candidates were using outlaws to influence the election. After Zafar's death people got relieved."
While talking to The Daily Star after Zafar's death, Santu himself termed his death a "disadvantage" for him in the election.
On Friday night, police caught Santu and three outlaws with firearms while they were distributing money among voters in Banaripara.