A local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has accused a former volunteer party leader of working for Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh in exchange for money, an allegation that the accused has strongly denied.
Ali Hossain, co-organising secretary of Konkapait Union BNP in Chauddagram upazila, made the allegation against Gazi Kabir Hossain, former vice-president of the Cumilla South District Volunteer Party. A video statement by Ali Hossain has since gone viral on social media.
In written and video messages, Ali Hossain claimed that Gazi Kabir Hossain had long been active in organising rallies and processions against Kamrul Huda, the Chauddagram upazila BNP leader and BNP-backed candidate in the Cumilla-11 (Chauddagram) constituency.
He alleged that 20 to 25 days before the election, Gazi Kabir abruptly began working in favour of Kamrul Huda with “malicious intent.” According to Ali Hossain, this shift followed an earlier incident in which Kamrul Huda allegedly insulted Gazi Kabir.
Ali further claimed that Gazi Kabir later entered into a secret arrangement with Jamaat leaders to undermine the BNP-backed “Sheaf of Paddy” symbol candidate. He alleged that money was exchanged at several polling centres in Konkapait Union, particularly at the Hingula centre. As part of this alleged plan, all BNP polling agents were placed in a single booth, leaving other booths unattended.
However, Gazi Kabir Hossain rejected the accusations, calling them baseless and defamatory. In his response, he said Ali Hossain was making false claims to damage his reputation.
He also alleged that Ali Hossain’s elder brother, former chairman Abul Kalam Azad Nayan, an Awami League leader, is now working for Jamaat, and that this was the reason behind what he described as a smear campaign against him.
No independent verification of the allegations or counterclaims was available at the time of reporting.
