Police in Chattogram have been given seven days to quiz two Election Commission (EC) staffers a day after they were arrested on allegation of helping Rohingyas obtain National Identity (NID) cards using fake information.
Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Sarwar Jahan passed the order on Wednesday (Nov 13) after the port city police's Counter Terrorism Unit Inspector Rajesh Barua placed them in it seeking a 10-day remand each.
The arrestees are Abul Khayer Bhuiya, 45, and Anwar Hossain, 45.
Inspector Rajesh Barua said, “As the arrestees are government employees, we had applied to the Election Commission Secretariat for arresting them. After obtaining official permission from the EC Secretariat, we have arrested the duo from their residences on Tuesday (Nov 12).”
Of them, Khayer works as an upper division assistant at Chattogram District Election Office while Anwar is an office assistant at Mirsarai Upazila election office.
He also said with the arrests, a total of 10 persons have been arrested so far in connection with the case.
On Sept 23, police arrested three temporary staff members of the Chattogram District Election office, for their alleged involvement in the fraudulent activities.
The same day, police also arrested NID Wing technical expert Shahanur Mia from the commission office in Dhaka, for purportedly enrolling Rohingyas in the electoral rolls.
Prior to these arrests, police in Chattogram had arrested and sued a number of local election officials — both temporary and permanent — with access to the commission’s equipment, for allegedly helping Rohingyas get NID cards.
In his court confessional statement, Joynal Abedin, an office assistant at the port city’s Double-Mooring election office, also mentioned some names, including commission staff members involved in NID forgery.
The authorities started investigating when a large number of Rohingyas, originally from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, were arrested with Bangladeshi NID cards and passports across the country over the past few months.