Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has been placed on a four-day police remand by a Dhaka court in connection with a case filed under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station for allegedly conducting fraudulent elections under undue influence.
On Monday, Nurul Huda was brought to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court around 3 PM and held in the court lockup. Investigating Officer Sub-Inspector Shamsuzzoha Sarkar requested a 10-day remand for further investigation. Following a hearing, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman granted a four-day remand after the state prosecutor supported the petition.
The case, filed a day earlier on June 22 by BNP National Executive Committee member Md Salahuddin Khan, accuses former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former CEC Nurul Huda, and others of manipulating three national elections under the Awami League government through widespread electoral fraud and state repression. A total of 24 individuals have been named as accused.According to the case statement, after Sheikh Hasina’s rise to power with alleged support from the military-backed caretaker government in 2009, efforts were made to abolish the caretaker system through the then-Chief Justice Khairul Haque. Following this, the Awami League government engaged in systematic repression, including enforced disappearances, killings, and persecution of opposition BNP leaders and activists.
KM Nurul Huda was appointed as CEC in February 2017, and under his leadership, the 2018 national election was allegedly rigged. The BNP and allied parties claim they were obstructed from campaigning, their candidates faced attacks, arrests, and false cases, and many voters were intimidated into leaving their constituencies.
The complaint alleges that law enforcement and Awami League cadres filled ballot boxes overnight ahead of voting day on December 30, 2018. Six BNP candidates were declared elected while the Awami League secured the majority in a one-sided result. The case also claims that Nurul Huda, under direct instructions from Sheikh Hasina, prevented BNP and opposition polling agents from entering polling stations, for which he allegedly received large sums of money.
The case further claims that in the 2024 12th National Election, a similar rigged election was conducted under the patronage of Nurul Huda and then CEC Kazi Habibul Awal to ensure another Awami League victory.
