At least eight workers of Jamaat-e-Islami including a former personal secretary of its Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami were arrested in Pabna while 15 workers of BNP and Jatiya Party were held in three other districts for distributing money among voters yesterday.
| Locals caught Nizami's former personal secretary Shafiqul Islam Ratan and other party men red-handed distributing money among voters in Haria village of Santhia upazila early yesterday. |
Our correspondent in Pabna reports that locals caught Nizami's former personal secretary Shafiqul Islam Ratan and other party men red-handed distributing money among voters in Haria village of Santhia upazila early yesterday. The other arrested Jamaat men were identified as Ratan's brothers Mahfuzur Rahman, Mizanur Rahman and Anwar Hossain, and Sakhawat Hossain, Hannan Sardar, Mahafuzur Rahman and Mehedi Hasan. They were later handed over to police with Tk 3,800.
Nizami has contested the ninth parliamentary election held yesterday from Pabna-1 constituency. His rival in the seat Awami League's advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku alleged that Jamaat men were trying to purchase votes of the villagers using black money. Officer-in-Charge of Santhia Police Station Moniruzzaman, however, said the arrestees are from both the AL and Jamaat and that the police were investigating the allegations. |