Upazila Polls: Two AL leaders held for threatening rival candidate’s agents

Detectives yesterday arrested two local Awami League leaders in Jamalpur over allegations of threatening agents of their rival candidate in the upcoming upazila parishad elections.

The arrestees are: Saidul Hasan, education and human resource affairs secretary of Sarishabari upazila unit AL and also principal of Sujat Ali College; Khandkar Motahar Hossain Joy, former Pigna union parishad chairman and a member of the AL upazila unit.

The Detective Branch of police in Jamalpur arrested the two from Jamalpur municipality area around 12:45pm yesterday.

Md Shafiur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Jamalpur, and Mohammad Shaniazzaman Talukdar, district election officer, confirmed this at a press briefing.

Earlier yesterday, Sakhawat Hossain, upazila election officer and assistant returning officer, filed a case against them with Sarishabari Police Station.

At a meeting on April 23, Saidul and Motahar allegedly threatened to break the hands, teeth and collarbones of the agents of their opponent candidate and throw them into the Jamuna river if they would enter the polling centres during Sarishabari upazila parishad elections.

A video clip of their speeches went viral on social media, followed by stern criticism among people in the upazila.