Release 69 BNP men arrested wrongfully, CCC mayoral candidate Shahadat demands

BNP-backed mayoral candidate of Chattogram City Corporation election, Shahadat Hossain, today demanded immediate release of 69 leaders and activists of his party who were arrested in the last seven days.

Otherwise, he said, all BNP supported councillor candidates will stage sit-in in front of Returning Officer Hasanuzzaman's office.

Shahadat Hossain came up with the demand during a press conference at the BNP office at Kazir Dewri in Chattogram city.

In the briefing, he claimed that police arrested at least 69 BNP men in 10 false and fabricated cases since January 19.

Shahadat also said that police arrested at least 20 BNP men last night from their residences.

He demanded immediate withdrawal of Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Police Station Nizam Uddin, claiming that he acted in favour of the Awami League nominated mayoral candidate Rezaul Karim Chowdhury.

The BNP mayoral candidate also said that he has so far submitted 40 complaints to the returning officer mentioning various incidents of irregularities committed by the AL mayoral candidate and his men.

"But the returning officer didn't take action," added Shahadat.

He claimed that a section of members of law enforcement agencies and "terrorists of AL" are trying to ruin the election atmosphere.

Shahadat submitted a list of arrested BNP men and requested the returning officer for their immediate release.

The returning officer assured Shahadat that he will look into the matter.