Senior EC officials in detectives’ crosshairs
Investigators are keeping a close eye on several senior officials of Election Commission (EC) at its Dhaka headquarters and Chattogram regional office, whose names came up in confessional statements of three people, in connection with a case filed with Kotwali Police Station in the port city, over National Identity Card (NID) forgery for Rohingya refugees.
However, the name and the number of the suspected EC officials could not be known, as police sources refused to disclose it for the sake of investigation.
Investigators have said they were verifying names of the suspected officials, and they will be arrested in the case after verifying their role in the forgery.
Officials of Counter Terrorism (CT) unit of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) said eight persons of three syndicates have been arrested so far in the NID forgery case. Three of them -- office assistant Joynal and technical expert Mostafa Faruk of Chattogram EC office, and Dhaka headquarters’ technical expert Md Shahnur have given their confessional statements under section 164, mentioning their associates’ names.
In the confessional statements, the trio disclosed names of some officials of EC and how they colluded with the syndicates in making Bangladeshi NID cards for Rohingyas, said a top source of CT unit.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammed Shahidullah of CT unit told The Daily Star, “We have learned several names in the confessional statements of the trio and we are verifying the names with high priority.”
“If evidence is found against the suspected officials, they will be brought to book,” added the DC. However, he denied to elaborate further for the sake of fair investigation.
Seeking to be unnamed, an official of CT said senior officials who were in Chattogram office during the forgery will be quizzed in the case.
“The then Panchlaish thana election officer Abdul Latif Sheikh is among the suspected officials,” said the officer, adding that investigators are trying to gather evidence against officials before making arrests.
Latif Sheikh is now the district election officer of Pabna, said EC office sources.
After the NID forgery came to light, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials also suspected involvement of several EC officials in the scam. Latif Sheikh is also on the list of ACC.
Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Sharif Uddin of ACC Enforcement Team in Chattogram told The Daily Star, “It is quite impossible to do NID forgery by some lower-level EC staffers through using official devices, without the knowledge of senior officials.”
“ACC is working on it,” he added.
Earlier on September 25, EC’s technical experts Shahanur and Mostafa Faruk gave their confessional statements before a magistrate, under section 164 .
Court sources said Shahanur, the Dhaka-based ringleader of the forgers, who was arrested on September 25, gave a four-page confessional statement before a magistrate, where he disclosed names of several EC officials and staffers.
Earlier last month, police and passport officials said some Rohingya refugees were making Bangladeshi passports using forged NID cards with the help of some locals and Rohingya brokers.
The Rohingyas were using fake names and addresses while applying for the identification documents.
Recently, a government probe body found that at least 73 suspicious applications were uploaded to the Election Commission database for issuing NID cards.
After the NID scam was unearthed, the EC conducted an internal probe, where the organisation found irregularities by its own staff.
Around 15 Election Commission staffers were involved in providing forged NID cards to Rohingyas, and most of them have been sacked for their involvement, said Brig Gen Saidul Islam, director general of the National Identity Registration Wing of the commission.
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