Jamaat leader jailed for 2 days over ‘cash distribution’ in Sutrapur, party rejects claim
A mobile court on Wednesday sentenced Md Habib, Nayeb-e-Amir of Sutrapur unit Jamaat-e-Islami, to two days’ imprisonment on charges of distributing money in front of a polling centre in the Dhaka-6 constituency.
Locals detained him in front of the Sutrapur Community Centre polling station earlier in the day, and he was later handed the sentence by a judicial magistrate.
Sutrapur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Matiur Rahman confirmed the matter, saying money was recovered from the accused at the time of detention.
Eyewitnesses and local sources alleged that Habib was distributing cash to voters at a rice shop in Ward No. 44 when residents caught him red-handed. An executive magistrate later visited the spot and, after verification, found the allegations to be true and ordered the two-day jail term.
Meanwhile, a video of the incident has gone viral on social media. The footage shows a man placing Tk 100 notes into envelopes inside a rice shop. It is claimed that the recording was made after the leader was detained on allegations of vote buying.
In the video, people present a question about why money was being kept in envelopes. The man replies that a Tk 100 fee is required to challenge votes and that the cash was being prepared for that purpose. At one point, a voice is heard asking why Tk 500 was being placed in each envelope, though no response is heard in the clip.
Locals condemned the incident, calling vote buying a threat to democracy and demanding strict enforcement of election rules.
Jamaat candidate rejects allegations
Following the incident, Jamaat-e-Islami’s nominated MP candidate for Dhaka-6, Dr Abdul Mannan, held an emergency press conference around 8:30 pm, rejecting the vote-buying allegations.
“Our people were keeping money in envelopes to be used by polling agents to challenge fake votes. At that time, BNP activists came and created a mob situation. Three of our leaders and activists were injured,” he claimed.
Mannan also alleged that Jamaat polling agents were obstructed and detained by BNP supporters at a polling station in Jubilee School when they went to sign election cards, and that some were assaulted.
He further claimed that there are 21 “risky” polling centres in the Dhaka-6 constituency where CCTV cameras have not yet been installed, adding that these centres had seen disturbances in the past.
The Jamaat candidate said the party would file written complaints with the Election Commission and relevant authorities and pursue legal action over the alleged attacks on its polling agents.