The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) Election Commission has said that it is seriously investigating the evidence of ballot papers being printed in an unsafe manner in Nilkhet, after candidates and journalists raised questions.
This information was given in a press release signed by DUCSU Election Chief Returning Officer Professor Dr. Mohammad Jasim Uddin on Thursday (September 25) night.
Earlier, at a press conference on September 22, the Chhatra Dal had alleged that no information was disclosed about the press from which the ballot papers used in the elections were printed. There have already been allegations of vote rigging through fake ballots leaked from unsafe printing presses. On September 7, a large number of ballot papers for DUCSU and Hall Sangsad elections were found in unsafe condition in a printing press in Gausul Azam Market in Nilkhet, where it was confirmed that there was no surveillance by the DU administration.
The next day, Chhatra Dal VP candidate Abidul Islam Khan said: “After the matter was revealed yesterday that the ballots were found unprotected on the ground floor of Gausul Azam on the night of the 7th, they are not that concerned about it. They said they did not know about it.”
In the elections held on September 9, the Islami Chhatra Shibir panel โUnified Student Allianceโ won 23 out of 28 posts, including VP-GS-AGS. The Chhatra Dal could not win any DUCSU post.
After the Chhatra Dal’s complaint, the News24 television investigation team searched the Gausul Azam Market in Nilkhet.
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However, the university authorities claim that the ballots were not made in Nilkhet but in a high-quality printing house in the utmost secrecy. The history of the incident and the statements of those concerned say that the DUCSU election ballots were printed responsibly in Nilkhet.
There is even a huge discrepancy in the information of the printing house and the supplier company regarding the number of prints.
The statement of the DUCSU Election Commission states that there is no opportunity to print this ballot at the Nilkhet Gausul Azam Market. Chief Returning Officer of the election, Mohammad Jasim Uddin, said: โBecause that machine will not be there (Gausul Azam Market).โ
He said it is a highly specialised process. The minimum price of each machine is Tk50-70 lakh. โWhen we tendered it, only one company applied. No one else had this machine.โ
It was found that Jalal Press can print ballot papers. The owner of the press, Md. Jalal, was asked whether the ballot on which the votes were cast in the DUCSU election was printed from his press. In response, he said, Yes.
The investigation also found out through whom the work of printing the ballot was obtained.
After looking at the documents, Md. Jalal also revealed his name. He said: โThe name of the person who gave me the job is Md. Ferdous. We did the job in about three days. The last date for ballot delivery was September 7.โ
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He said that the DUCSU ballot papers were printed in the open environment of his press. The shutter of the press was not closed either.
Md. Jalal said that 48,000 pieces of ballots were taken from him. Since there are two ballots per paper, the number stands at 96,000. According to the list published by the university, the total number of voters was 39,775. Of these, 78.33% of the total voters in 18 halls voted unofficially in the September 9 election.
Investigations revealed that on the evening of November 7, the cutting of ballot papers took place at another shop called “Mecca Paper Cutting House.” After talking to the owner and employees of the shop, it was learned that a person named Ferdous came to this shop for work. The environment was also unsafe during the cutting.
The shop employee said that the paper was sensitive, so we cut it between 12:45am and 1:30am. The next day, they took the ballots around 9am.
However, he gave another piece of information. According to the information he gave, 22 reams of paper were cut that night at that cutting centre. The number of ballots is approximately 88,000. Jalal Press is saying that they printed 96,000 ballots. And Mecca Cutting is saying that they cut 88,000 ballots. This is where the discrepancy of 8,000 ballots lies.
Anja Corporation is one of the companies that won the tender to print ballot papers and count them on OMR machines in the DUCSU elections. The company is located in the Navodaya Residential Area of โโAdabor Police Station. Anja Corporation Chairman Zahid Hossain admitted over the phone that the ballot papers were supposed to be printed.
However, Zahid Hossain claimed that the ballots were printed at his own press, located in Keraniganj. However, when given information and evidence, he blamed the employees. He said, I was not Chinese. My employees did the work. Zahid Hossain claims that they printed 153,000 ballots.
Investigations have found two different accounts from two shops in Nilkhet. Anja Corporation says that they printed 153,000. If we take the uniform rule, the total number of voters in the DUCSU elections was 39,775. Each voter voted for their preferred candidates on a total of six sheets. That is, the total number of ballot papers in terms of sheets stands at 238,650.
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