The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Jhenaigati and Assistant Returning Officer Md Ashraful Alam Rasel has been made Officer-on-Special-Duty (OSD) following a clash between BNP and Jamaat activists in Sherpur’s Jhenaigati upazila.
The notification was issued by the Ministry of Public Administration on Thursday, a day after the incident in which Jamaat leader Rezaul Karim, secretary of the Sreebardi upazila unit, was killed during the violent confrontation.
The clash erupted during a joint election campaign event organised by the returning officer, where candidates from different parties were brought together on a single stage, an initiative introduced by the Election Commission (EC) for the first time.
Reports said the first clash broke out over seating arrangements. A second round of violence followed later at Jhenaigati Bazar, where Rezaul Karim was fatally attacked.
Following the incident, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the commission has decided to withdraw the UNO and the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the concerned police station as an administrative measure.
He described the incident as “highly condemnable” and said it violated the EC’s code of conduct for election campaigning.
“Our code of conduct stipulates that candidates should campaign in a peaceful environment and read out their manifestos in a friendly atmosphere. Unfortunately, this incident took place. As a result, the UNO and the OC have been withdrawn.”
