Gaibandha by-polls: Police, magistrates played silent roles

Some polling officials yesterday alleged they did not get enough cooperation from law enforcers and magistrates to stop irregularities during the Gaibandha-5 by-election on October 12.

The police and magistrates watched on as the Awami League men stormed polling centres and cast fake votes, they alleged.

Election Commission Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath yesterday recorded statements of 40 presiding officers and 278 assistant presiding officers who were assigned to ensure fair polls in the Gaibandha-5 constituency.

After yesterday's event, The Daily Star talked to over a dozen polling officials. More than half of them said they did not get sufficient cooperation from the police and magistrates.

"I told the probe body [formed by the EC to investigate into the voting anomalies] that some irregularities indeed took place at my polling centre," said Samsuzzoha, presiding officer of Saghata Government Primary School station.

"I tried to resist them [miscreants] but failed. Later, I sought cooperation from police, but the law enforcers showed reluctance to drive them out of my polling station,"

Shafiqul Islam, assistant presiding officer of the same polling station, stated the same before the probe body.

Seeking anonymity, another presiding officer, said, "Some agents of the ruling Awami League-nominated candidates entered the polling booths and cast fake votes.

"I sought help from police and magistrates, but they did nothing."

On October 13, some documents went viral on social media that showed some polling officials claiming they were forced to suspend votes following  EC directives and that the polls were held peacefully.

Rashikur Rahman, presiding officer of Saghata Pilot High School polling station, was one of those.

Asked, he said someone called him over the phone on the voting day and asked him to go to the upazila nirbahi officer's office and sign the documents.

"I was unwilling to sign the documents but I went to the UNO office and signed out of fear."

AKM Forrukh Alam, presiding officer of Bharatkhaly Government Primary School polling station, said he could not trace the irregularities on the voting day.

"I have come to know about the irregularities today [yesterday] as the EC's probe committee showed me the CCTV footage," he said.

Many polling officials, who gave statements before the probe body, fear the EC might take action against them on charges of failure to stop the irregularities that led to the suspension of the by-polls.

The probe body yesterday also recorded statements from 200 polling agents of several candidates.

Fazlul Haque Prodhan, an agent of the Jatiya Party-nominated candidate, alleged police favoured the AL-backed candidate's agents on the voting day.

"Police did not take any action against the Awami League men who drove out [JP] agents from different polling stations," he told The Daily Star.

Contacted, Saghata upazila AL's Organising Secretary Shah Mohammad Morshedul Alam said the probe body was putting pressure on the polling officials to give such statements against law enforcers, administration, and the AL.

The probe committee chief Ashok Kumar Debnath, however, denied the allegation.

"None pressurised them [polling officials]. Rather, they drew the actual picture and what happened on the election day," said Ashok while talking to journalists at Saghata UNO office yesterday afternoon .

Today, the probe body will record statements of the police personnel who were on election duties.

Gaibandha-5 by-polls were suspended as the EC said the situation had gone  out of control.

A day later, the EC also formed a three-member committee to investigate the irregularities and asked to submit a report within seven working days.

As part of its investigation, the probe body started recording statements of polling officials on Tuesday.