The Election Commission is going to buy two lakh Electronic Voting Machines for the next national polls, spending more than 10 times what India paid to obtain its EVMs.

An EVM in India costs about Rs 20,000, said an EC official on the condition of anonymity.

When the EC bought 1.5 lakh EVMs from  Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF) in 2018, each machine cost Tk 2.3 lakh, the official said.

This time, the outlay is bound to be more due to the appreciation of the dollar, the official pointed out adding that a development project proposal involving Tk 7,500-Tk 8,000 crore was being prepared.

More than four years back, the EC bought the EVMs under a Tk 3,825-crore project.

The base price of an EVM was $2,387 (about Tk 2,26,842 in today's money); another Tk 25,000 had to be paid for its accessories.

Last time, there was no value-added tax on the final price of the EVMs but this time there might be taxes, which would increase the cost further, the official said, adding that the base price would remain the same.

Asked why the Bangladeshi device was more expensive than that of many countries including India, EVM Project Director Syed Raquibul Hasan said, "A Tata car does not cost the same here as in India.

"You can't compare our EVMs with those of any other country. In our EVMs, we have added features like a fingerprint matching system, audit card, polling card, and other safety and security measures. The Indian EVM has no such features.

"If a fingerprint scanner and other accessories were added, what will be the cost of an Indian EVM?" Hasan said.

 Asked why the EC has not floated any national or international tender for the EVMs, which might have yielded competitive bidding, Hasan said, "Only BMTF can provide the specific machine."

BMTF is a commercial plant of the Bangladesh Army. The state-owned enterprise has the capacity to deliver two lakh EVMs ahead of the next general election likely to be held in late December next year or early January 2024, according to Hasan.

The move to buy the additional EVMs comes on the back of the EC's August-23 decision to go for electronic voting in up to 150 constituencies in the polls despite major opposition parties' objection to the use of the devices.

The EC has 1.5 lakh EVMs that can be used in 70-80 constituencies at one go in the next polls.

The development project proposal now being prepared includes the setting up of 10 warehouses in 10 regions, recruiting manpower and training them to handle the devices, and buying vehicles for transporting the EVMs.

The warehouses will have foolproof security, firefighting equipment and temperature control for the proper preservation of the EVMs.

The three-storied warehouses would be on 40 kathas of land with more than 60,000 square feet of space to keep around 45,000 EVMs.

"We will need money to buy or acquire land and to have modern facilities to store the machines," Hasan said. Campaigns would be required to make people aware of the EVM use and dispel misconceptions.

The EC is yet to choose the constituencies where EVMs will be used in the next general election.

"This will be finalised when the election schedule is fixed," said an EC official.

EVMs would mostly be used in the urban seats with smooth transportation and also where the devices were earlier used for different elections, the official added.

EVMs were first used in the 2018 parliamentary election.

Police yesterday arrested two more people for their alleged involvement in the gang rape of a woman in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila. 

They are Hasan Ali Bulu and Jashim Uddin. Their names were not mentioned in the first information report, but police held them based on information gleaned from other arrested accused.

Elias Sharif, superintendent of Noakhali police, said a team from Char Jabbar Police Station arrested Bulu in Chattogram city's West Madarbari area around noon. Another team held Jashim from Nazirhat in the morning. 

With the two, seven people, including Awami League leader Ruhul Amin who allegedly ordered his accomplices to rape the mother of four for voting for “sheaf of paddy”, have been arrested in connection with the rape that sparked protest and condemnation.

Four of them were mentioned in the FIR. Nine people were sued over the incident.    

The name of Ruhul, also a former union parishad member, was not included in the FIR.

Talking to reporters, the SP said Bulu was the personal assistant to Ruhul. During investigation, it was revealed that Bulu had hired people for Tk 10,000 to rape the woman.

The police officer also said Bulu had an altercation with the victim at a polling station in Sunday's national election and he also threatened her following the quarrel.

“Whoever is the offender will not be spared,” the SP said, adding that they would arrest others involved in the incident soon.

“They will submit a charge sheet of the case and ensure trial of the case at the Speedy Trial Tribunal.”  

The woman was gang-raped allegedly by 10 to 12 accomplices of Ruhul, who is the publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL, at her home early Monday.

Meanwhile, expressing deep concern over the rape, Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday said, “This incident put our democratic and fundamental rights, and the freedom of expression under threat.”

“The incident made us disgraceful as a nation. Such an incident is difficult to imagine in any democratic country.”

He also demanded the perpetrators be brought to book, said a press release of Gonoforum.

A team of Left Democratic Alliance yesterday visited Noakhali General Hospital where the 35-year-old victim was being treated.

It demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and their punishment through quick trial.

Protesting the rape, Chhatra League (JSD-Ambia), student body of a faction of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal led by Sharif Nurul Ambia, formed a human chain in front of Raju Memorial Sculpture on Dhaka University campus yesterday.

In another development, a delegation of 15 senior BNP leaders, led by its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, will visit Noakhali General Hospital today to enquire about the victim, said a release.

Seven MPs-elect of Jatiya Oikyafront yesterday refrained from taking oath and the alliance claimed that ruling party men had stuffed the boxes with “30 to 60” percent of the ballots the night before the polls.

Hours after 289 newly elected lawmakers took oath at the parliament complex yesterday, an eight-member delegation led by Oikyafront spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went to the Election Commission and handed over a memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda.

In the memorandum, the alliance also alleged that the administration was blatantly used against the people. It was a "breach of trust and the voters were deceived”, the Oikyafront said.

"This election is a cruel mockery of the people,” Fakhrul, also the BNP secretary general, told reporters afterwards.

"There is no question of taking oath as we have rejected the results,” he said replying to a query about whether the seven lawmakers-elect would take oath.

Raising allegations of widespread ballot stuffing and irregularities, Oikyafront rejected the results of Sunday's polls and demanded immediate national election under a nonpartisan neutral government.

The alliance yesterday submitted some “evidence of election-related anomalies and undue influence since the announcement of election schedule”.

"We've submitted evidence to the commission. We hope they [commission] will review those,” Fakhrul said. "The nation was pushed into darkness through this cruel drama in the name of election.”

The AL rowdies with the help of law enforcers forced all shops to close across the country before 9:00pm the night before the election to create a ghostly atmosphere, the memorandum said.

After stuffing the ballot boxes at night, they cast false votes during election day and voters were forced to vote for boat, it said.

It said ballot papers in almost all polling centres ran out by noon and in many cases polling officials took lunch breaks.

The night before the polls, AL men terrorised voters and threatened them with dire consequences if they went to vote, the Oikyafront claimed, adding that the AL men showed off their muscle power at intersections to intimidate voters.

“Law enforcers did not take any steps when help was sought.”

Counting of votes began before 4:00pm at many places, the Oikyafront said, adding that the EC's role was mysterious.

It said the EC and the courts cancelled candidature of 18 Oikyafront candidates and at least 16 other candidates were arrested.

There was no change in the civil and police administration. Judicial and executive magistrates were made inactive, it claimed.

“The media and the social media were controlled and the army was made inactive,” it said.

The EC must take the responsibilities of depriving the people of the country from exercising their right to vote, it said.

BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan, Moyeen Khan, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President ASM Abdur Rob, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddique, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Gono Forum leader Mostofa Mohsin Mantu were in the Oikyafront delegation.