Bangladesh Awami Swechchhasebak League, youth front of the ruling Awami League, relieved its two leaders of their posts for their alleged involvement in abducting and torturing a chairman candidate in the forthcoming Singra upazila parishad in Natore elections.
A press release, signed by Natore District Swechchhasebak League president Khandaker Ishtiaq Ahmed and general secretary Shafiul Azam on Tuesday night, stated that Hasan Imam and Mohan Ali, president and general secretary of Singra Upazila Swechasebak League respectively, were relieved of their organisational posts for their involvement in anti-discipline activities.
On April 15, a group of youths forcibly picked up chairman candidate Delowar Hossain, also a member of the Kalam union Awami League, in a black microbus from in front of the Natore district election office when he went to meet with the returning officer after submitting his nomination papers for the chairman post in the Singra upazila parishad elections.
Minutes before his abduction, Delowar told reporters that the followers of his lone rival candidate Lutful Habib, joint secretary of the Singra upazila Awami League and brother-in-law of state minister for information and communication technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, abducted his two elder brothers in the morning and held them hostage so that he could not submit his nomination papers.
Later, Delowar was beaten and sent home in a microbus in an unconscious condition.
In CCTV footage, several Juba League, Swechchhasebak League, and Sramik League leaders and activists, close to Lutful Habib, were seen picking up Delowar Hossain in a black microbus forcibly.
Amid huge criticism, Lutful Habib withdrew his nomination papers on April 21, a day after detectives seized his microbus and the weapons used in abducting and beating Delowar Hossain.
