Four people were detained at a polling station in Gaibandha on Tuesday for trying to disrupt the by-election in the seat left vacant by the death of MP Golam Mostafa Ahmed last December.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer SM Golam Kibria said the detainees were apprehended in Sundarganj upazila by Executive Magistrate Samiul Amin.
“They were disrupting the voting process by attempting to promote the boat symbol after casting their own votes,” he said.
A total of 338,556 voters were registered for the Gaibandha 1 by-polls but voting was reported to be slow on Tuesday morning.
In Sundarganj, for example, only 305 out of 1,500 voters registered with the Gopalcharan Government Primary School centre had turned up to place their votes by noon.
More people started to show up as the day progressed, according to assistant returning officer and district election officer Mahbubur Rahman.
Around 4,000 members of police, BGB, RAB and other law enforcement agencies were deployed to ensure hassle-free balloting.
MP Golam Mostafa Ahmed - who died in a road accident on December 19, 2017 - had himself won the Gaibandha 1 seat in a by-election, following the the murder of ruling Awami League lawmaker Manzurul Islam Liton in December 2016.
In the race to succeed Golam, Afruza Bari is representing the ruling Awami League while barrister Shamim Haider Patwary contesting the polls on a Jatiya Party ticket.
Two other contestants are Zia Zaman Khan and Shariful Islam representing the National People’s Party and Gana Front respectively.
Sunday, June 14, 2026
