State minister Palak's brother-in-law summoned at EC for abducting candidate

The Election Commission (EC) has summoned Natore's Singra upazila parishad chairman candidate Md Lutful Habib Rubel for physically assaulting another chairman candidate after kidnapping him.

The EC on Thursday asked Md Lutful Habib Rubel to appear before it on Monday at the EC secretariat at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.
Md Lutful Habib Rubel is the brother-in-law of State Minister for Information and Technology and Natore-3 constituency's member of parliament Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

A showcause notice signed by EC's deputy secretary Md Atiar Rahman was also served on Md Lutful Habib Rubel on Thursday.

It is learnt that the EC has summoned Md Lutful Habib Rubel after the allegations against him found to be true.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, a group of people abducted Singra upazila parishad chairman candidate Delwar Hossain from Natore District Election Office by a microbus. He was left in front of his house after several hours. Police have already arrested two persons for physically assaulting the candidate.

Victim Delwar Hossain's family have held rival chairman candidate Md Lutful Habib Rubel and his supporters for the incident.

After scrutiny on Tuesday last, the nomination papers of Delwar Hossain and Lutful Habib Rubel were found valid. After it, the EC decided to take action against those involved in the incident, said EC Secretary Jahangir Alam.

In its letter, the EC has mentioned that the reports have been received from the local administration and intelligence agencies concerned. Besides, detailed news reports along with photographs have been published in national dailies. The incident has primarily found to be true from these reports and news reports.

"You are asked to appear before the Election Commission at 4:10pm on April 22 (Monday) in person with written replies and to explain why your candidature will not be cancelled or proper legal steps will not be taken against you," the EC said.

It may be mentioned that the voting in 150 upazila parishads will be held under the first phase on May 8 next.