Dhaka Bureau: The three-member investigation committee formed by the Election Commission (EC) said that the involvement of the polling officers as well as the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) was found in the irregularities in the Gaibandha-5 constituency. The detailed description of the role of the DC-SP in the polls has been thoroughly recorded in the inquiry report. Besides, the ADC General of the district, Saghata Upazila was also found to be involved in the UNO incident.
ADC (General) himself attended the Saghata Upazila UNO office and forced the presiding officers to sign the white paper stating that ‘voting was fair’. Further investigation by the committee at the direction of the EC found these facts.
According to EC sources, three members of the committee went to Saghata and Phulchari in Gaibandha to identify the irregularities in the closed polling stations. Out of 145 polling stations in the two upazilas, 88 were in Saghata and 57 in Phulchari. During the investigation, more than seven hundred people were given letters to testify on behalf of the committee. Of these, 622 testified before the committee. The committee has identified the guilty or responsible persons by uncovering the true facts regarding the entry of polling agents or persons other than voters into secret rooms, voting in secret rooms, witnessing, forcing or influencing voters to vote for any candidate, taking pictures of secret rooms with mobile cameras, etc.
At the same time, some polling agents performing their duties wearing party symbols or same color clothes, people dressed in similar clothes wandering randomly in the polling booths, entering secret rooms in some cases, whether the said clothes were gifted or taken in exchange of money, etc. told the commission. Besides, a polling agent or an illegal person enters a secret room and casts his/her own vote, peeks or enters the secret room to observe the voter voting for a candidate, obstructs the voting, polling officer enters the polling room and casts his/her own vote or influences the voter or is not a polling agent. Types of persons responsible for influencing voters to vote have been identified in the original investigation report. The district administration has forced a large number of presiding officers to be involved in poll irregularities.
In a written letter to the committee, the presiding officers said that on the instructions of the top officer of the Gaibandha district administration, ADC General Sushant Kumar Mahato, UNORA of Saghata and Phulchhari upazilas signed the white paper stating that ‘voting was fair’. The presiding officers said that Saghata UNO chief Mustafa Shaheen forced the presiding officers to sign the white paper.
