MP candidate Shimul detained immediately after appealing to Election Commission under Awami ally tag

Staff Correspondent

Ashraful Alam Shimul, an independent MP candidate from Gopalganj-1 constituency, was detained after he arrived at the Election Commission for an appeal hearing with the tag ‘Awami Dosar’.

Shahbagh Police arrested him on Wednesday night, January 7, in front of the Ramna Kali Temple adjacent to Dhaka University.

Police said Ashraful Alam had been in hiding for a long time and had multiple cases against him at various police stations.

Law enforcement was able to arrest him after his location was identified through his appearance at the Election Commission’s appeal hearing.

Ashraful Alam had submitted his nomination papers as an independent candidate for the Gopalganj-1 (Muksudpur-Kashiani) constituency. However, on January 3, during the verification process, the Returning Officer Md. Arif Uzzaman cancelled his nomination papers, citing that the signatures of one percent of the supporters were defective.

He then appealed to the Election Commission to regain his candidacy. He came to the Election Commission office on Wednesday to attend the hearing of that appeal. He was detained in Shahbagh after leaving the commission area. He was later taken to the police station and the process of sending him to court is underway, police said.

The incident has sparked renewed discussion in the local political arena. Although he has opened the door to contesting as an independent candidate, his political future is now uncertain due to legal troubles.