Five hundred transparent ballot boxes were gutted as a fire broke out at
Narayanganj district election office at Fatullah early Thursday. Besides,
a desktop computer, three laptops, a scanner and two printers were damaged
in the fire, District election official Takdir Ahmed confirmed UNB. The
local election officials suspect miscreants set fire to the office in the
early hours of Thursday as they found glass of its window broken. Fire
Service officials said the fire broke out in a storeroom of the election
commission office at about 3am and soon engulfed the entire room. On
information, two firefighting units from Mandalpara fire station of the
district rushed to the spot and doused the blaze after four hours of
frantic efforts with the help of office staff. Upazila Nirbahi Officer
Gausul Azam said huge old ballot papers, ballot boxes, seals, voter lists
and some unnecessary papers, which were made in 1995, were gutted in the
fire. Officer-in-charge of Fatullah Model Police Station Akhter Hossain
said the fire incident is mysterious and investigation is going on. High
officials of the district administration, police and Election Commission
visited the spot. Election official Takdir Ahmed filed a case with
Fatullah Police station against unknown miscreants in this connection.
Election Commissioner Md Shah Nawaz said the damage of 500 ballot boxes
will not have any impact on the national election as the commission has
adequate ballot boxes in its stock. – UNB
