Voting in 91 upazilas ends amid violence: 4 dead

Voting in 91 upazila parishads across 43 districts came to a close at 4pm on Sunday amid stray incidents of violence that killed at least four persons in Munshiganj, Comilla, Brahmanbaria and Jhalakati. The polling was held from 8am to 4pm without any break in the 4th phase of the staggered local government elections. At least five chairman candidates, mostly BNP-backed ones, boycotted the elections in Pirojpur Sadar and Mathbaria upazilas, and Khulna’s Terokhada raising allegations of capturing polling stations and casting fake votes, while polling in eight polling stations was postponed in Patuakhali Sadar. Besides, 14 people were injured in polls violence at Kalaroa in Satkhira, while some 2,400 ballot papers were snatched from two centres at Barura in Comilla. However, voting in many other places, including Sylhet region, was largely peaceful. In Munshiganj’s Gazaria upazila, a local leader of ruling Awami League — Shamsuddin Prodhan, 65, chairman of Baluakandi union and president of AL local unit — was hacked to death during a clash between two rival groups of the party at a polling station of the union. Equipped with lethal weapons, supporters of AL-backed candidate Amirul Islam and AL rebel candidate Refayetullah Khan Tota reportedly locked into a clash in front of Dr Abdul Gaffar School and College polling centre in the morning leaving Shamsuddin Prodhan dead on the spot, said Presiding Officer Sarwar Morshed Chowdhury. Sarwar Morshed said the voting in the centre was postponed. Voting in two other centres of the upazila — Poikharpar Primary School and Baghaiakandi Primary School– was also postponed due to casting of fake votes, he added. In Patuakhali Sadar upazila, voting in eight centres has been suspended to prevent possible violence and casting of fake votes, Nazmul Alam, district election officer, confirmed, according to a news agency.