Several candidates Thursday issued letters to the Election Commission seeking the transfer of top officials of the administration and the police ahead of the January 7 national polls.
Jatiya Party (JaPa)-nominated candidates issued six separate letters to the Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibur Awal, seeking the transfer of Jessore Superintendent of Police (SP) Proloy Kumar Joarder. However, the candidates later in the day withdrew the letter after assurance from the SP of his cooperation in holding fair elections.
A similar request was sent to the CEC by an independent candidate for Lalmonirhat-2 constituency, Halima Khatun, who requested the transfer of Lalmonirhat deputy commissioner, superintendent of police, Kaliganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer, and officer-in-charge (OC) of Kaliganj police station.
In their letters, six JaPa candidates in Jessore said Proloy Kumar Joarder has been acting as the SP of the district for the last three years. They said the police official hails from Netrokona, and his in-laws live in Manirampur Upazila of Jessore. Therefore, he is related to a lot of local residents of Jessore.
The letter was issued by Akhteruzzaman of Jessore-1, Firoz Shah of Jessore-2, Md Mahbub Alam of Jessore-3, Md Jahurul Hoque of Jessore-4, MA Halim of Jessore-5, and GM Hasan of Jessore-6. However, the candidates later in the day withdrew the letter after assurance from the SP of his cooperation in holding fair elections.
They said that the police official is known as the son-in-law of Swapan Bhatacharya, the state minister for local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and a member of parliament (MP) from Jessore-5 constituency. And therefore, the official is trying to influence the voters in favour of his relative, the JaPa candidates alleged.
In her letter, independent candidate Halima Khatun alleged that Lalmonirhat deputy commissioner, superintendent of police, Kaliganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer, and OC have been stationed in the same post and location for a long time. She added that the officials should be transferred to maintain fairness in the upcoming national polls.