First phase UZ polls held peacefully, claims EC

First phase upazila parishad elections in the country were held peacefully, Election Commission (EC) secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed claimed, reports BSS.

"First phase of the fifth upazila parishad election was held in a peaceful and credible manner," he told a press conference at Nirbachan Bhaban media centre on Sunday.

Counting of votes started after balloting in 78 upazilas of the country's 12 districts ended at 4 pm in the afternoon.

Earlier, the voting started at 8 am in a festive mood and continued peacefully till 4pm uninterruptedly with spontaneous participation of the voters.

The day was a public holiday in the respective upazilas on the occasion of the local body election.

Restrictions on vehicular movements were imposed in the electoral areas while additional law enforcement agencies remained deployed for five days, including two days before and two days after the election along with the voting day.

A total of 14 members of law enforcement agency discharged duty in every general polling centre while 16 in the risky polling centers.

Although the EC declared election schedule for 87 upazilas in the first phase, polls were held in 78 upazilas on Sunday. Voting was not held in 10 upazilas due to different reasons.