Illegal poll duty lands 330 Ansar members out of election roles

Two Ansar unit leaders in the capital have been removed over verified links to a political party

The Bangladesh Ansar and VDP has removed 330 members from election duties over allegations that a team leader in Hatirjheel assigned them roles illegally in exchange for money.

On Wednesday, a day before the parliamentary election and referendum, the force announced that anyone found involved in corruption will be immediately relieved from election duties.

The force also removed from election duties 13 more personnel stationed at Chattogram Kotwali Police Station after it was initially proved that they did not have any training to carry out the task.

In a statement, the force also said its two leaders under the Gulshan and Bhatara police stations were removed from election duties after preliminary verification established their links with a particular political party.

Regarding the Hatirjheel incident, the leader of the Town Defence Team (TDP) in Ward 22 illegally assigned 330 untrained personnel to election duties by creating fake certificates in exchange for Tk 400 per person.

Investigations also revealed that he accepted Tk 1,100 per person in bribes for assigning them duties, the force said.

The suspect team leader Mamun, identified with a single name, is on the run.

“Election duties are based not only on physical capability but also on valid certificates and institutional qualifications,” the statement issued by the force read.

Nearly 900,000 personnel, including 550,000 Ansar members, from several forces have been deployed to maintain security during the parliamentary polls.