Selina Islam Beauty, the wife of slain Narayanganj City Corporation Councillor Nazrul Islam, has won the Ward-2 councillor election by a big margin. The ward’s councillor post fell vacant after the death of Awami League supporter Nazrul in April. After presiding officers of all polling centres finalised counting votes, Returning Officer Md Tarifuzzaman announced the results on Saturday evening. According to the unofficial results, Beauty with poll logo ‘lion’ bagged 5,266 votes and her rival Iqbal Hossain running with ‘apple’ secured 1,961 votes. Another candidate Masum Rana got only 667 votes. Iqbal is the joint secretary of the BNP’s Siddhirganj unit. Of the total 16, 729 voters, 7,956 cast their vote on Saturday. Forty-four of them were cancelled and eight ballot papers were missing, election officials said. During the balloting that started from 8am and ended at 4pm, there were no reports of trouble. The district’s election officer Md Tarifuzzaman said the polls were free and fair amid heavy presence of personnel from BGB, RAB and police. Narayanganj City Corporation’s Ward No 2 comprises Siddhirganj’s Mijmiji, Painadi, Mouchak, Natun Moholla, Abdul Ali Pool, Hirajhil, Mujibbagh and Mitali Market areas. The schedule for this ward’s councillor election was announced on July 14, after Awami League supporter Nazrul’s death. The councillor, his four associates and district’s senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarker and his driver were abducted on Arp 27. Their bodies were found floating on Shitalakhyya River several days later. Ward-4 Councillor Nur Hossain had allegedly paid some Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officials to carry out the abduction and murder of the seven men. Three RAB officers were stripped off their ranks and arrested after the allegation against the elite force surfaced. They have also confessed to their crimes at court. Meanwhile, Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the murder case who had managed to flee from the country, was arrested at Baguiati in Kolkata in June. He is currently in police custody after he was booked under Arms Act and Foreigners Act for illegal trespass into Indian Territory without valid travel documents and for illegal possession of a weapon. –bdnews24.com
