Supporters of Ragib Hasan Tipu, Awami League (AL) candidate for the post of mayor of Pabna Sadar municipality, barricaded the Pabna bus terminal area, halting movement of vehicles from noon until evening, demanding cancellation of the election result and re-polling in the municipality.

Kamrul Hassan Mintu, independent candidate and also the sitting mayor, won the Pabna municipality election bagging

30,547 votes against Ragib Hassan Tipu's tally of 24,654 votes.

Not accepting the result, Pabna district unit AL, in a press conference held at their office yesterday at noon, claimed the local administration acted against the AL candidate to make the independent candidate win.

"The local administration, including the district administration and police, attacked AL men in different areas. Most voters could not come to voting centres for fear of being

attacked," lawmaker Golam Faruk Khandaker Prince, secretary of Pabna district unit of AL, told journalists at the press conference.

Rejecting the poll result, senior vice president of the district unit of AL, Rejaur Rahim Lal, also the chairman of the election moni-toring committee, demanded reelection in Pabna municipality, saying victory for the boat was snatched by the local administration.

Tipu alleged that the district administration

and police supported his rival, and demanded the removal of the DC and the SP of Pabna. He alleged that an industrialist motivated the local administration to help Mintu.

"If the poll result is not cancelled, we will go for a tougher agitation programme, ” Tipu said.

Refuting the allegation, Additional Deputy Commissioner Munshi Md Moniruzzaman, also the returning officer in the polls, said the claims were baseless.