AL's Mustafizur Chowdhury becomes first in country's history to get candidacy cancelled during polls day
Today, he threatened law enforcement and for this reason his candidature was cancelled, the EC said
For the first time in country's history, the Election Commission (EC) has cancelled the candidacy of the AL-nominated Mustafizur Rahman Chowdhury, also current MP of Chattogram-16 (Banshkhali), over "gross violations of the electoral code of conduct".
The commission took the decision at 3:45pm.
Speaking to reporters, EC Secretary Jahangir Alam said Mustafizur had violated the code of conduct several times before.
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Today, he threatened law enforcement and for this reason his candidature was cancelled, the EC said.
Mustafizur has been charged with electoral crimes under the Representation of the People Order's (RPO), 1972, said a notice from the EC.
Around 2:30pm today, the vehicle carrying Mustafizur to the polling station in the upazila came under attack, which left him injured as well.
His personal assistant alleged that supporters of the "eagle" symbol attacked the MP's car and hit him on the head.
Contacted, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Banshkhali police station Tofail Ahmed said he was in the area but could not say anything in this regard.
Earlier on the day, a man named Abdul Ghafoor was arrested over obstructing the polls by casting fake votes at one of the stations around 11:30am, OC Tofail Ahmed said.
Mustafizur allegedly went to the police station and threatened the police saying he would "chop off their hands if they arrested his followers".
A video later surfaced on social media where the MP was seen threatening the OC at the station.
Commenting on this, his personal assistant claimed that when Mustafizur went to the station to inquire why Ghafoor was being held, there was a slight argument with the police.
Earlier on 3 January, Mustafizur was granted bail in a case filed for violating the electoral code of conduct.
Banshkhali Election Officer Muhammad Harun Mollah filed the case against Mustafizur on 26 December on charge of breaching election code of conduct.
The allegations stemmed from an incident on 30 November when Mustafizur Rahman entered the returning officer's office with a large group of supporters while submitting nomination papers, resulting in a massive showdown.
This action was deemed a violation of the electoral code of conduct.
Furthermore, the MP reportedly physically assaulted a journalist who questioned whether his action was a violation of the election code of conduct. The MP also later issued threats against the journalist's life.
Several other journalists were also injured during a scuffle during the incident.
Following the incident, one of the injured journalists filed a complaint with the returning officer.
Chittagong-16 constituency election inquiry committee Chairman and Joint District Judge Abu Salem Mohammad Noman investigated the complaint and submitted a report to the Election Commission on 3 December.
Based on the initial findings, the Election Commission later filed a case against Mustafizur Rahman Chowdhury.
On 26 December, the Special Branch of Chattogram Metropolitan Police filed a report calling Mustafizur a "threat" to free and fair elections.
The report was issued on 22 December after Mustafizur allegedly threatened Banshkhali Officer-in-Charge Tofail Ahmed over the phone for accepting a case filed by his rival candidate Mojibur Rahman's supporters.
A general diary was also filed with the police station over the threat.
Previously, he violated the election code of conduct while submitting nomination papers to the returning officer on 30 November.
At the time, a broadcast journalist Rakib Uddin questioned him on the spot, triggering a violent response from the lawmaker. Supporters of the MP also joined him in assaulting the journalist there.
