The Election Commission (EC) for the first time has cancelled the candidacy of ruling Awami League nominated candidate and also the current lawmaker of Chattogram-16 (Banshkhali) Mostafizur Rahman Chowdhury during polls.
EC Secretary Jahangir Alam while talking to the reports said Mostafizur had violated the code of conduct several times before and on the election day he threatened law enforcement officials. For this reason his candidature was cancelled, the EC said.
Meanwhile, the commission took the decision at 3:45pm on the election day.
Earlier, on January 3, Mostafizur was granted bail in a case filed for violating the electoral code of conduct.
Banshkhali Election Officer Muhammad Harun Mollah filed the case against Mostafizur on December 26 on charge of breaching election code of conduct.
The incident began on November 30, when Mostafizur Rahman entered the returning officer’s office with a large number of supporters while submitting nomination papers, resulting in a massive showdown.
But action had taken against that MP, when he reportedly physically assaulted a broadcast journalist Rakib Uddin after he questioned whether his action was a violation of the election code of conduct. Several other journalists were also injured during a scuffle on that day. The MP also threaten the journalist.
Later, one of the injured journalists filed a complaint with the returning officer.
Election inquiry committee Chairman of Chittagong-16 constituency and Joint District Judge Abu Salem Mohammad Noman investigated the complaint and submitted a report to the Election Commission on December 3.
Based on the initial findings, the EC later filed a case against Mostafizur.
In addition, Mostafizur allegedly threatened Banshkhali Officer-in-Charge Tofail Ahmed over the phone on December 22 for accepting a case filed by his rival candidate Mojibur Rahman’s supporters.
A general diary was also filed with the police station over the threat.
On December 26, the Special Branch of Chattogram Metropolitan Police filed a report calling Mustafizur a “threat” to free and fair elections.
