Police have arrested former chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal on Sunday night, and is currently being taken to the Detective Branch (DB) office, police officials said.
The arrest came hours after another ex-chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda was manhandled by angry mob and later hander over to police in city’s Uttara area.
Both the arrests came a few hours after BNP filed a case against 24 persons, including three former chief election commissioners, on charges of manipulation in the last three national elections.
Kazi Habibul Awal was the thirteenth chief election commissioner of Bangladesh. He assumed the office of CEC on 27 February, 20222 and resigned on 5th September 2024.
Earlier, the BNP submitted a case application at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station accusing 24 individuals, including three former chief election commissioners, of conducting fraudulent elections.
Among those named in the case are the then CEC of the 2014 general elections, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad.
The list also includes Sheikh Hasina, then-prime minister who was ousted during the July uprising; former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan; former inspector general of police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker; and several other government officials.
Also accused are CEC KM Nurul Huda of the 2018 general elections, election commissioners Rafiqul Islam, Kabita Khanam, and Brigadier Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury.
Others named in the complaint include then-IGP Javed Patwary, then-Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Benazir Ahmed, former IGP AKM Shahidul Hoque, former Special Branch (SB) chi Md Monirul Islam, and the former chiefs (unnamed) of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and National Security Intelligence (NSI), as well as former deputy inspector general (DIG) of Dhaka Range Police Syed Nurul Alam.
Finally, the application also names the chief election commissioner of the 2024 national election, Kazi Habibul Awal.