The Election Commission has withheld voting in five Upazilas, which were supposed to go to polls on Mar 31 in the fourth phase of the Upazila council elections.
Voting in Mymensingh’s Trishal Upazila has been withheld for irregularities while pre-polls violence caused the commission to suspend voting in Pirojpur’s Mathbaria Upazila, EC Deputy Secretary Atiar Rahman said.
Voting in the three more Upazilas — Cumilla’s Barura, Feni’s Chhagolnaiya and Khulna’s Dumuria — have been suspended due to legal issues, he added.
A total of 127 Upazilas were supposed to go to polls on Mar 31, which has now come down to 122 after the latest development.
Pirojpur police chief withdrawn
The Election Commission has ordered the withdrawal of Pirojpur’s Superintended of Police (SP) Mohammad Salam Kabir for his failure to prevent violence in upazila election zones in the southern district.
It has written to the offices of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on Thursday (Mar 28) to withdraw Kabir and appoint a replacement.
The commission has also instructed to withdraw the OC of Pirojpur’s Mathbaria police Shawkat Anwar Islam on similar allegations.
It has also decided to withdraw the OCs of Amtali in Barguna and Brahmanpara in Cumilla from election duties on allegations of working for a candidate.
Meanwhile, the EC has instructed the IGP to open departmental inquiries against Additional Superintendent Md Shafiqul Islam and OC Md Shamsudding over ballot stuffing in Kishoreganj’s Katiadi the night before the polls on Mar 24. The commission has instructed the police headquarters to suspend the officers for two months.