The seizure of Tk 15 lakh from a vehicle belonging to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee on Wednesday has raised questions on the eve of nationwide elections in the country.
The money, which was seized at an army checkpost in the Jhumur area of Bangladesh’s Lakshmipur district, was going to be used for election-related expenses, Anee said in a Facebook video.
“The car used for my election work has been checked. In fact, the incident happened when my election agent was going to different (election) centres with the car,” he added.
The Facebook video was posted a while after officials detained two individuals in connection with the incident and issued show-cause notices, which stated that they provide an explanation within 30 minutes.
Anee added that the vehicle was even being operated by his personal assistant and election agent, Badrul Alam Shyamal, and said that those detained were released after he accounted for the expenses.
Still, netizens have expressed doubts about the Tk 15 lakh seizure, as it comes barely a day after Belal Uddin Pradhan, a Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer (leader) and teacher, was arrested with around Tk 50 lakh at the Saidpur Airport in Nilphamari.
Pradhan was first allegedly caught with the money at the Dhaka Airport, but was allowed to board his flight after some questioning. However, he was again caught at the Saidpur Airport, from where he was arrested.
However, after the arrest, he complained of illness, and was then taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, confirmed Superintendent of Police (Nilphamari), Sheikh Zahidul Islam, as per a Prothom Alo report.
The Bangladesh police have since registered a case against the Jamaat leader, which will probe the source of the Tk 50 lakh that was recovered from him at the airport.
The party’s Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair has since cried foul, terming the arrest as a “stage-managed drama by law enforcers”.
