BNP activists allegedly snatch list of Jamaat polling agents in Barguna

A group of BNP activists allegedly beat up a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and snatched a list of the Islamist party’s polling agents from his possession in Betagi upazila, Barguna on Wednesday.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Saddam Hossain, also the assistant returning officer in Barguna-2 constituency, said an official complaint has been received in this regard, and forwarded to the Election Investigation and Judicial Committee for a formal probe.

Saidur Rahman Dulal, president at Sadar Union unit of Jamaat, detailed the allegations at a press conference held in the evening.

According to the Jamaat leader, he was having some snacks at a roadside shop at Betagi Bus Stand in the afternoon. All of a sudden a group of three, led by Betagi Upazila Chhatra Dal Vice President Ruman Khan, attacked him.

The attackers snatched a list of Jamaat polling agents, one diary, relevant documents and five mobile handsets from Saidur Rahman’s possession, the Jamaat leader alleged.

Based on address mentioned in the list, BNP activists are visiting the houses of Jamaat’s prospective polling agents and warning them against going to polling centres on the election day on Thursday.

Jamaat activists are also threatening the party’s voters, Saidur Rahman further said.

The Betagi police station was alerted about the intimidation but the administration was yet to take any action to this end by Wednesday evening, he alleged.

Jamaat’s candidate in Barguna-2 is Sultan Ahmed, and his BNP counterpart is Nurul Islam alias Moni, who is also a former three-time lawmaker. A tight contest is expected between the two on Thursday.

In response to the allegations, Ruman Khan said that Saidur Rahman Dulal approached some youths to bribe them with Tk1,000 each. The youths declined the offer and burst into uproar at the “outrageous incident." Seeing the commotion, we came forward with BNP activists and tried to stop them.

He said, At this time, youths complained us about the distribution of money. Hearing the allegations of money distribution, BNP workers got agitated and took the money and diary from Saidur.

Fearing something untoward might happen, I asked Saidur to leave the place quickly and calm everyone down. Later, we also reported the incident to the police and UNO. The allegation of beating are “complete lies,” he added.