Bangladesh News

The Election Commission (EC) has accepted a good number of nominations filed by mayoral and councillor aspirants having criminal records.

A few of them have even been convicted by local courts. Out on bail granted by the High Court, they are now seeking re-election on full throttle.

Most of the contenders in question are incumbent ward commissioners belonging to Awami League (AL) and BNP.

The commission will unveil a final list of contestants after July 13, the last date for withdrawing nominations in the August 4 polls to four city corporations.

BARISAL
Several of the 14 mayoral candidates whose nominations have been declared okay by the district election office face various charges including murder, extortion and corruption.

Showkat Hossain Hiron, city AL convener, is among the graft suspects listed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). He also stands accused in several cases including one for vandalising local BNP office.

Rezaul Haque Harun, joint secretary of district AL, is listed as a loan defaulter with Rupali Bank. His nomination was adjudged all right as the bank’s list of defaulters did not reach the election office timely, said an official of the district election commission.

Ahsan Habib Kamal, a former mayor and expelled city BNP leader, has allegations against him of torturing and filing false cases against journalists. He has however been cleared of charges in party worker ‘Mudee’ Shaheen murder case.

Ebaidul Haque Chan, president of Barisal Chamber of Commerce and former general secretary of district BNP, is an accused in the case for killing Barisal College student union vice-president Faruq.

Another case was filed against him last year for defaulting on electricity bill.

Besides, he has been charged with constructing ‘Oviruchi’, a cinema hall, on khas land.

Kabir Uddin Hannu was expelled from JP for grabbing the land of a temple and assaulting journalists for reporting about him. He was imprisoned for several times on varying charges.

At least 14 incumbent commissioners contending for BCC councillor’s posts are accused in cases on charges including murder, extortion and illegal possession of firearms and public property.

Immediately after promulgation of the state of emergency last year, the joint forces raided the house of BNP leader and ward-25 commissioner Ziauddin Sikder. They failed to capture him, but arrested his two brothers and seized illegal firearms.

Ziauddin had been into hiding for a long time after the raid. A local court has sentenced him to five years in prison for vandalism and arson. But the judgment remains stayed on orders from the High Court.

Firoj Ahmed, commissioner of ward-24, had been arrested by the joint forces last year. A court here has sentenced him to life imprisonment for involvement in Mamun Gazi murder. His case too is now at the higher court.

KM Shahidullah, commissioner of ward-12 and a BNP leader, is accused in four cases including one for grabbing government land. After hiding for a long time, he surrendered to a court a few months ago and was granted bail in all cases.

Commissioner of ward-22 and BNP leader Atiqur Rahman Atiq is accused in three cases including Shahjahan murder case. He was arrested after declaration of the state of emergency. Now he is freed on bail.

BNP leader and Commissioner of ward-9 Syed Jamal Hossain Noman who left Barisal after 1/11, has recently returned to his area to campaign for re-election. Local business community alleges that he has made huge sums through unfair allotment of shops in the Multipurpose City Market.

BNP leader Jainal Abedin, ward-10 commissioner, had been hiding since January last year. There are five cases including one for murder against him.

There are two cases including a murder against Habibur Rahman Tipu, commissioner of ward-6.

JP leader KM Murtaza Abedin, commissioner of ward-2, faces 12 criminal cases including one on charge of attempt to murder. He was detained for nine months before being released on bail recently. He is running for re-election.

Sultan Mahmud, general secretary of Barisal Motor Sramik Union, was caught by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in the act of extorting money from transport owners. A top listed criminal, he was arrested on numerous occasions.

Asked about the commission’s accepting nominations of those convicted by local courts, Deputy Election Commissioner for Barisal Division Monirul Islam told The Daily Star that there’s nothing wrong with the decision since they [candidates] have obtained bail from the High Court with their cases still pending.

He however said if any candidate is found to have kept back personal information, his candidacy would be cancelled anytime.

SYLHET
Of 19 people running for the mayor’s post, three are accused in corruption and criminal cases.

Sylhet City Corporation’s (SCC) detained Mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran is charged in four cases filed for corruption, illegal possession of foreign liquor and violation of the emergency power rules.

Along with over 20 incumbent councillors, he has been charged with graft in tender for a kitchen market contract.

Misbahuddin Siraj, another mayoral hopeful, was arrested last year along with 41 others in connection with flouting the emergency power rules. He is now on bail.

Salahuddin Rimon was arrested several times on charges of mugging and he is also on bail.

District AL General Secretary Iftekhar Hossain Shamim was detained for months on charge of land grabbing. The case was withdrawn Tuesday.

Deputy Election Commissioner for Sylhet Division Khandaker Mizanur Rahman told The Daily Star that a number of candidates do face charges and some are even behind bars. Still, the commission cannot throw anyone out of the race until and unless they are convicted.

Out of 218 councillor candidates, 45 are accused in criminal and corruption cases. Of them, district Jubo League President and ward-8 commissioner Jagadis Das is in jail. He is accused in a number of cases filed for land grabbing and other criminal activities.

Former councillor of ward-13 Oliur Rahman Sohel is accused in the kitchen market scam case. Currently, he is in jail in a narcotics case.

District Jubo League General Secretary and councillor of ward-20 Azadur Rahman Azad, councillor of ward-2 Syed Ahmed Hossain, councillor of ward-11 Abdul Quaiyum Jalali Ponki, councillor of ward-13 Santanu Dutta Santu, councillor of ward-10 Saleh Ahmed Chowdhury, councillor of ward-21 Sajjadur Rahman, councillor of ward-22 Syed Misbah Uddin, councillor of ward-23 Faruque Ahmed, councillor of ward-24 Mohammad Shahjahan and former councillors Pradip Bhattacharya, Azhar Uddin Jahangir, Humayun Kabir Shahin, Moksud Bakht, Bidhan Kapali are among the accused in the kitchen market scam case and they all are out on bail.

Councillor of ward-6 and BNP leader Farhad Chowdhury Shamim has cases against him on charges of smuggling and looting while councillor of ward-9 and AL leader Mokhlisur Rahman Kamran is accused of land grabbing.

Councillor of ward-25 Ashique Ahmed is on bail in a case for Tk 22 lakh robbery at Pubali Bank. He is a charge-sheeted accused in the case.

Of the new faces in the councillor race, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) activist Kamrul Hasan Shahin is charged in a number of criminal cases. His fellow candidates and JCD leaders Sadiqur Rahman Sadique and Shakil Morshed were arrested several times on charges of mugging, vandalism and rowdiness.

Bazlur Rahman Babul and Zakir Ahmed Shahid are accused in cases for extortion, land grabbing and other crimes.

KHULNA
Of the ones with nominations accepted for Khulna City Corporation (KCC) polls, 13 face allegations of corruption and criminal activities.

Of them, four are mayoral candidates and the others are vying for councillor’s posts. Four of the 13 are in jail, one is on the run and the rest are on bail.

The mayoral aspirants facing criminal charges are AL Khulna city unit President Talukder Abdul Khaleque, central Organising Secretary of Jatiya Party (JP) Abdul Gaffar Biswas, Convener of Rajnaitik Shamajik Andolan city unit Kamrul Alam Mintu and independent candidate SM Hafizur Rahman.

In a swoop on May 17 last year, the joint forces arrested Gaffar and recovered three firearms, 500 bullets, 22 bottles of Phensidyl and a considerable amount of heroin from his house.

Gaffar is also a charge-sheeted accused in the case filed for murder of JP leader Sheikh Abdul Kashem. Talking to The Daily Star, he claimed the charges against him are fabricated and politically motivated.

Abdul Khaleque is on trail in a corruption case filed by the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption in 2004. In the case, he has been charged with misappropriating Tk 1.05 crore allocated by the government for constructing a college at Rampal upazila in Bagerhat.

The joint forces arrested him during Operation Clean Heart in 2002. Khaleque said he has never committed any crime and the case was filed with political motivation.

Hafizur Rahman, an official of the Municipal Services Project of KCC, was suspended on charge of misappropriating Tk 44.56 lakh. Hafiz however blames detained KCC Mayor Sheikh Tayebur Rahman for his suspension.

He was sent to jail when he surrendered in a forgery case on May 26 last year.

Mintu was arrested twice since 2007 on charges of criminal activities. Currently on bail, he claims he has never committed any crime.

Nine councillor candidates have cases against them for extortion, murder and possession of illegal arms. They are Golam Mowla Shanu of ward-26, Mohammad Hossain Mukta of ward-31, BNP leader Mosaddek Hossain Babul of ward-13, Sheikh Shahidul Islam of ward-19, Jubo League leader Shahid Iqbal of ward-24, AL leader Birendra Nath Ghosh of ward-23 and Anisur Rahman Biswas of ward-16.

RAJSHAHI
So far, 18 people are in the mayoral race in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) while 242 people are councillor candidates.

Councillor contender Rejaunnabi Al Mamun, incumbent commissioner of ward-15, is accused in 10 criminal cases filed with police stations in Rajshahi and Bogra. In one of those cases, he faces charge of kidnapping.

Councillor aspirant Shahadat Hossain Sahu, commissioner of ward-17 and an AL adherent, has been released from police custody recently. He was arrested nine months ago on various charges including land grabbing and aiding hooliganism.

Murad Ali, commissioner of ward-14, has two land grabbing cases against him.