Six people including, five presiding officers, were arrested on Monday night on charge of holding a "secret meeting to work for a chairman candidate" in
Sirajganj upazila parishad
election scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
The five presiding officers are Sirajul Islam, also an assistant professor of Jamuna Degree College, Ashraful Islam, headmaster of SB Railway Colony Government Primary School, Md Abu Shama, assistant lecturer of Sirajganj Police Lines School and College, Bacchu Kumar Ghosh, lecturer of Bahuka Degree College, and Yeasin Arafat, a principal officer of Janata Bank.
The other arrestee is Aminul Islam, a teacher of Shialkole Government Primary School and also the president of Sirajganj Primary Teachers Association.
Deputy commissioner of Sirajganj district and also returning officer Mir Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman gave the information at a press conference on Monday night.
Subsequently, local administration appointed 10 new presiding officers and cancelled the appointment of 10 presiding officers including the arrested ones.
He said they conducted a joint drive with police, election office and district administration after being tipped off that a secret meeting was taking place at Garden Palace Resort in Kadai area of Sadar upazila, involving several presiding officers supporting a chairman candidate.
Though no one could be arrested from the spot during the drive, later CCTV footage and some resort staff were taken to the local police station for questioning, he said.
Police Superintendent Arifur Rahman Mandal said they conducted drives in the district and arrested them including the meeting's mastermind Aminul Islam.
The ongoing operation to arrest others continues, he added.
Sirajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sirajganj Sadar Police Station, said Md Shahidul Islam, returning officer of six upazila parishad elections in Sirajganj and also the district election officer, filed a case with the police station last night accusing 20 people, including eight named accused, over holding a secret meeting with some supporters of Sadar upazila chairman candidate Riaz Uddin at a park on Sunday night.
He said police had CCTV footage of the incident.
Police later arrested the six, the OC added.
The upazila has a total of 171 polling centres and the upazila polls are going to be held across the country in four phases, starting from Wednesday.
AB/SA
