Violence marks 3rd phase of Upazila elections: 3 dead

FE Report | Published: March 16, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Thirty chairman candidates were elected unofficially so far in the third phase of upazila elections held across the country Saturday.
According to the unofficial results available from different areas until filing this report at 10:00 pm on the day, Awami League-backed chairman candidates won in 14 upazilas, BNP-backed candidates in 12 upazilas, one Jamaat-backed contestant in one upazila and others in three upazilas.
UNB adds: Voting in the third phase of the upazila election, spread across 81 Upazila parishads in 41 districts was marked by violence, occupation of polling stations and at least 9 boycotts.
At least three persons were killed in violence, one in Kachua Upazila of Comilla district, one in Naria Upazila of Shariatpur district and the other in Madan Upazila of Netrokona district.
The 9 boycotts were all by chairman candidates, in four districts - Barisal, Bagerhat, Comilla and Shariatpur.
As of 2.0pm, voting had been suspended in nine polling stations across the country, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz told reporters at the Election Commission Secretariat.
"The election is continuing peacefully by-and-large amid stray incidents in some places," he said.
One of those incidents, in Bagerhat's Kachua upazila, resulted in the death of the Shibir activist, identified as Manjarul Islam, 24. Son of Afzal Hossain of Tengrakhali village, he was part of Shibir's Bagerhat PC College unit.
Mohammad Nizamul Haque Mollah, Bagerhat's superintendent of police, narrated that the supporters of Jamaat-backed vice chairman candidate Advocate Mostakin Billah had been canvassing voters on his behalf.
When Rafiqul Islam, 48, an activist of Karapara union Parishad unit Awami League and son of Kashem Sheikh, tried to resist them, they beat him up mercilessly and smashed his head with bricks, leaving him critically injured.
Later the supporters of Awami League fought back and attacked the Jamaat-Shibir men. Manjarul Islam got hit in the head with a brick that smashed his head, leaving him dead on the spot.
Four chairman candidates - BNP-backed Abdus Sattar Khan, BNP's rebel Belal Fakir, AL rebel Abdul Malek Bari and independent candidate Abdul Mazid Khan - announced their withdrawal from polls in Muladi upazila in Barisal.
They alleged that activists of the ruling party-backed candidate were obstructing their supporters from casting votes, forcing their agents out of some polling centres and also casting fake votes.
Abdus Sattar Khan, who is also president of BNP's Muladi upazila unit, announced a daylong hartal in the upazila for Sunday protesting the irregularities.
In Bagerhat, three chairman candidates - one each in Sadar, Sharankhola and Morrelganj upazilas - withdrew alleging irregularities.
The three candidates are Bikalpa Dhara-backed Mahtab Uddin in Sadar, BNP-backed Matiar Rahman in Sharankhola and BNP-backed Abdul Majid Hawladar in Morrelganj.
In Comilla, BNP-backed chairman candidate Nazir Ahmed Bhuiyan boycotted the poll in Nangalkot upazila, raising allegations of vote-rigging, occupation of polling stations and non-cooperation of the election officials.
BNP-backed chairman candidate Mahbub Morshed Tipu in Shariatpur's Sadar upazila announced his election boycott alleging vote fraud.
Another BNP-blessed chairman contender, Kamrul Huda, demanded suspension of voting in Chauddagram upazila. He also called a half-day hartal in Chauddagram for Sunday.
In Shariatpur, A young man was killed when police opened fire on a group of people as they reportedly tried to snatch ballot boxes from a polling station at Bumkhara in Naria upazila on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Ripon Majhi, 26, a local construction worker and son of Meser Ali Majhi of Bumkhara.
Witnesses said a group of people swooped on Bagbari Primary School polling centre and tried to snatch ballot boxes minutes after the voting closed, trigging a clash with law enforcers.
At one stage, the law enforcers opened fire on the rowdy people, killing Ripon on the spot.
In Netrokona, a supporter of a BNP rebel candidate was shot dead allegedly by the supporters of a BNP-backed candidate in the 4th phase upazila election at Fatehpur village in Madan upazila on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Genu Miah,32, son of Abdul Jabbar of Tolaram village of the upazila.
Witnesses said the supporters of BNP-backed chairman candidate SM Hares locked into an altercation with the supporters of BNP rebel candidate Rafiqul Islam around 2 pm over tearing a poster.
At one stage, supporters of the BNP-backed candidate opened fire on the BNP rebel candidate's supporters, leaving Genu Miah injured.
He died on way to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
Officer-in-Charge of Madan police station confirmed the incident.
In Chittagong, men of AL-blessed chairman candidate torched two houses and candle factory of BNP-Jamaat men at Terial area in Sitakunda around 11:15am.
A person named Didar was injured in the incident, while an army member, who was at his ancestral house on leave, Kanu De sustained injuries as he went to douse the fire.
Besides, at least seven people were injured in an attack when the supporters of an AL-backed candidate attack on the motorcade of 19-party-backed chairman candidate in Chandnaish upazila on Saturday.