MP candidate arrested on suspicion of being a ‘former Chhatra League leader’ while collecting nomination papers

District Correspondent

A former Chhatra League leader has been arrested while collecting nomination papers to run as an independent candidate in the Gopalganj-3 constituency in the national parliamentary elections.

Tapas Halder (35), a former member of the organization’s central committee, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon, said Kotalipara Police Station OC Riyad Mahmud. Police claim that Tapas was involved in Chhatra League politics while he was a student at Dhaka University in 2006.

Tapas is the son of Harekrishna Halder of Kumarkandi village in Kalabari union of Halder upazila.

His chief election agent Haridas Majumder Nayan said, “Around 11:30 am, five to seven of us went to the Kotalipara UNO office to collect nomination papers. Before entering there, Kotalipara police station BNP general secretary Abul Basar Howlader came, introduced himself, talked a little and left. Then the police came and arrested Taposh Halder.”

He said, “Tapas has not held any political office for 17 years. As far as we know, there was no previous case against him. Tapas Haldar has popularity in the area, if he can contest the election, it will be proven.”

Haridas Majumder said, “Still, we are trying to collect nomination papers. If we can get the nomination papers, we will submit them.”

Kotalipara Police Station OC Riyad Mahmud said, “Tapas Halder was arrested from the Paschimpar area of ​​the upazila town around noon. He was arrested as a suspect in a case of creating havoc in the Wapdar Hat area of ​​the upazila on the Paysarhat-Gopalganj regional road. Later, he was sent to jail through the court.”

On July 16 this year, leaders and activists of Awami League and allied organizations protested at Wapdar Hat area of ​​the Paysarhat-Gopalganj regional road to stop the NCP’s ‘Gopalganj Road March’. The Yunus government claimed that this created fear among the public and created obstacles to the movement of vehicles.

After that incident, the massacre carried out by various forces including the army and police has already been described in the newspapers as the Gopalganj genocide. Human rights activists have called the persecution of innocent ordinary people for the mere ‘crime’ of being a resident of the birthplace of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, unprecedented. The Yunus government faced heavy criticism at home and abroad for this. The international media strongly condemned such atrocities.

In that incident, the then SI of Kotalipara police station, Uttam Kumar Sen, filed a case naming 155 people and accusing 1,500 other unidentified people. However, local sources say that at least lakhs of ordinary people outside the list have been victims of cases, attacks and arrests.