Police detained former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda from his residence in the capital’s Uttara area on Sunday evening.
The detention came just hours after a case was filed by the BNP at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station on Sunday morning, accusing 24 people, including former Chief Election Commissioners, Election Commissioners and other officials involved in conducting the 10th, 11th and 12th national elections, of irregularities and biased conduct.
Deputy Commissioner (Uttara Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Md Hafizur Rahman confirmed the detention, saying that based on secret information, a team from Uttara West Police Station conducted a raid on a house in Uttara Sector-5 around 7:30 pm and detained KM Nurul Huda.
"For security reasons, he was handed over to the Detective Branch (DB) office on Minto Road shortly after he was detained," the DC said.
As Huda is an accused in the case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, he is likely to be shown arrested in connection with that case, he added.
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Earlier in the day, a four-member BNP delegation led by National Executive Committee member Salahuddin Khan filed the case at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
The complaint named 24 people, including former CECs Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, KM Nurul Huda and Kazi Habibul Awal, along with several unidentified persons.
BNP alleges that the 2014, 2018, and 2024 general elections were manipulated and held in a partisan manner, despite repeated calls for a non-partisan caretaker government and the deployment of army personnel with magistracy powers during polling.
Talking to reporters, Salahuddin Khan said, “Despite widespread complaints during those elections, the then CECs failed to take any corrective measures. We hope the current Election Commission will investigate and take action.”
The 10th parliamentary election in January 2014 saw 153 Awami League candidates elected unopposed after the BNP and other opposition parties boycotted the polls. That election was held under the leadership of CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad.
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In the 11th parliamentary election of December 2018, overseen by CEC KM Nurul Huda, the BNP alleged that ballots were stuffed the night before voting.
The 12th election in 2024, conducted under CEC Kazi Habibul Awal, was dismissed by the BNP as a “dummy election,” as the party chose not to participate.
Earlier this month, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus directed the authorities to form a committee to investigate the roles of those involved in conducting the three controversial elections.