Polls stopped at 2 Noakhali Upazilas

Candidates backed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said they would withdraw from polls at two Upazila Parishads – Kabirhat and Companiganj - in Noakhali on Thursday. They alleged ruling party supporters had taken over polling centres and assaulted their agents. Local BNP units have also called for whole-day general strikes for Friday in those Upazilas. Polling at Ahmedia High School centre at Noakhali Sadar Upazila was also stopped two hours after it begun following bomb blasts and snatching of ballot papers. Three Assistant Presiding Officers – Mamtaz Begum, Sahida Aktar and Abul Hasem – were also beaten up in that centre, said Presiding Officers Ibn Saleh Md Farhad. Voting at 115 Upazilas across 52 districts, the second phase of the local government body polls, started at 8am on Thursday. Farhad said, “Several homemade bombs exploded outside the centre around 10am. Miscreants entered the school and damaged two ballot boxes and snatched away around 150 ballot papers.” After that, the voting was suspended, he said. Chief polling agent of BNP-backed Sadar Upazila Chairman candidate Mahbub Alamgir Alo, Harunur Rashid Azad alleged that Awami League supported aspirant Shihab Uddin Shahin’s supporters were behind that attack. Two other BNP candidates Md Ilias and Humayun Kabir at Kabirhat and Companiganj said they were withdrawing from the contest at midday. They alleged that Awami League supporters had taken over the voting centres and beaten and chased away their polling agents away in almost all those Upazilas. The chiefs of BNP units of both Upazilas called for the strikes on Friday, according to bdnews24.com.