A presiding officer has alleged that an unusually large crowd at Anandanagar Adarsha High School polling centre in Dhaka-11 constituency was “artificially created”.
By 11:30am, the average turnout at the six polling centres at the school stood at 23.96%.
Presiding Officer MA Mohibur Rahman said: “There should not be this many voters. The crowd is being created artificially. Such a situation may be created to prevent genuine voters from casting their votes.”
He also said a magistrate had already been informed to bring the situation under control and that he had received assurance that the army would be deployed.
However, a different picture was presented by Presiding Officer Md Monwar Hossain, who is in charge of centre No. 90.
He said: “Voters are casting their votes spontaneously and there is no disorder. Temporary congestion has been created because the entrance is narrow, which is the main reason for the crowd.”
Several voters who came to cast their ballots also expressed frustration over the crowd and management.
Shafin, 21, said: “Even when I came to vote at 8am, the crowd was already like this from the beginning. The result will depend on the choice of the residents.”
It was seen that a large number of voters had gathered at the school, with several long queues stretching far beyond the polling centre.
Anandanagar Adarsha High School polling centre has a total of 19,290 voters, including 9,791 men and 9,499 women.
