In 2012, four laptops went missing from the Election Commission (EC) office in Chandnaish, Chattogram. In that incident, the EC lodged a case but the laptops have not been recovered as yet and the EC could not take effective action.
The police report submitted at court underplayed the crime. Consequently, the arrested were released by the court.
Chattgoram district EC official Munir Hossian says: “I was not here when the incident happened and knew that after a case was filed, 7-8 people were arrested.”
The stolen laptops have not been recovered as yet.
The current OC of Chandnaish police station Keshab Chakrabarty could not give any information on the matter.
One of the released in the case, Noman Shibli said: “We used to go to the project to work and came back at night. One morning, we learnt that there was an entry into the office as the grille was cut and the laptops were stolen. Later, we were questioned by the police and a case was lodged against us but since no evidence was found, we were released.”
Noman feels that EC officials may be linked to the incident and they were made scapegoats.
Another laptop went missing from Mirsarai in 2015 while it was being used along with four others for data entry work.
An EC official says that the ID of the laptop was 4214. People who worked at the Mirsarai office could not be reached for comments.
District election official Munir Hossain says: “The police are investigating the matter and hopefully, the truth will be revealed soon.”
He is not certain of the laptop ID and said: “If anyone knows the password then laptop ID can be changed.”