AL complains capture of polling centres by BNP men

The main opposition party also complained that supporters of the four-party alliance candidate Khadija Amin intimidated voters and drove away its (AL) agents from polling stations.

But EC officials brushed aside the allegations and said polling was peaceful and no untoward incident occurred at any of the 124 polling centres.

"We came to know through our leaders at Netrokona till yesterday evening that 13 polling stations were forcibly occupied by the BNP activists," Rahmat Ali, convenor of the election affairs committee of the AL,

told The Daily Star.

He said he had first filed complaints with the EC at 2:00pm about forcible occupation of four polling centres and called upon Chief Election Commissioner M A Syed to take necessary action in this regard. Then he informed the EC officials about the occupation of 13 centres.

"The ruling party's hooligans forcibly occupied polling centres 45, 93, 121 and 122 and cast false votes. They also threatened minority voters and asked them not to come to polling centres. The local administration, the presiding officer and other polls officials were reluctant to take any action," the AL said in its complaint faxed to the EC at 2:00pm.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, organising secretary of the AL, alleged that the BNP activists prevented many voters from casting votes at Dharmaroy centre in Shukhari Union and Ram-chandrapur Primary School centre in Maskara Union.

The activists also attacked the residence of a local AL leader when he was motivating voters to cast vote at Dharmaroy centre, Saber said.