Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has been placed on a three-day police remand by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court in Dhaka on Thursday.
The remand comes in connection with a case filed at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station over allegations of conducting a sham election that deprived citizens of their voting rights — including manipulating results through alleged nighttime vote counting. Police had initially sought a 10-day remand.
Habibul Awal was arrested on Wednesday morning from Dhaka’s Moghbazar area, according to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
Earlier, on Sunday, former CEC KM Nurul Huda was also arrested in the same case. He was granted a four-day remand the following day.
The case was filed by Salah Uddin Khan, a member of the BNP’s national executive committee. It names 24 individuals, including three former chief election commissioners — Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad (2014 elections), KM Nurul Huda (2018 elections), and Kazi Habibul Awal (2024 elections) — accusing them of engineering elections that lacked credibility and failed to uphold constitutional responsibilities.
On Wednesday, the court approved the inclusion of sedition charges in the case following a police plea.
Other high-profile accused in the case include former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, and several former Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs), such as Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, Javed Patwary, and AKM Shahidul Haque, all of whom are alleged to have played roles in executing or enabling flawed electoral processes during previous governments.
