Rohingya NID scam: 5 including Chattogram election office staff sued

The Election Commission today filed a case against five people, including Chattogram District Election Office staff, in connection with distributing national identity cards (NIDs) among Rohingya refugees and making them voters.

Chattogram's Double Mooring area Election Officer Pallabi Chakma filed the case with Kotwali police station under the Digital Security Act and the Election Commission Act.

The police have arrested three people over the matter on Monday night, confirmed Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali police station Mohammad Mohsin.

The arrestees are Office Assistant of Double Mooring Election Office Md Joynal Abedin, 35, and residents of Patiya upazila Bijoy Das, 26, and his sister Sima Das, 24.

The police are currently investigating the matter.

According to sources, the Anti-Corruption Commission has found that false NIDs and smart cards were prepared for Rohingyas by using an Election Commission laptop which went missing from its Chattogram office. 

But the graft watchdog could not confirm whether the laptop was stolen or handed over to someone by election officials.

A total of 46 Rohingyas have so far been identified who were included in the voter list.

The voter ID cards were prepared in 14 thana election offices in six districts with 74 registration forms. 

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has blocked the NID server for further investigation into the matter. 

On September 1, an alleged Rohingya robber leader who was killed in a reported gunfight with law enforcers in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar had an NID card.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas. More than 7.3 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal military crackdown on the Muslim ethnic minority on August 25, 2017.