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The OC said drives are underway to arrest the other who took part in the assault.

On Sunday evening, a mob, which police said consisted mostly of local members of Swechchhasebak Dal, gathered in front of the former CEC’s residence in Uttara and assaulted him. They later handed him over to the police.

The video of the assault has gone viral on social media.

Earlier, Hafizur Rahman, while talking to The Daily Star, said that police have identified Mozammel Haque Dhali, a Swechchhasebak Dal activist, who was seen assaulting the former CEC in a video.

A case was in the process of being filed, he added.

According to police sources, at least 200 people were present in the area during the attack, led by Sheikh Farid Hossain, president of Swechchhasebak Dal’s Dhaka city north unit.

Farid, however, denied being present at the scene.

“I was in Gulshan when the incident took place. I later asked some of our party men to go there to ensure that no one takes the law into their own hands,” he said.

When asked if Dhali is affiliated with his party, Farid said he does not hold any position but is an activist of the Swechchhasebak Dal.

A video of the incident shows Nurul Huda, dressed in a white T-shirt and lungi and with a garland of shoes around his neck, surrounded by a group of people. At one point, a bearded man hit Huda in the face twice with a shoe, while others nearby appeared to attempt to stop the assault.

A few seconds later, a policeman grabbed Huda by the hand and took him away. At that moment, someone was heard saying, “We’ve been keeping him [Huda] on watch since last night [Saturday].”

When the former CEC was being put into a police vehicle, the people gathered there were heard chanting pro-BNP slogans.

On Sunday afternoon, the BNP filed a case against three former CECs, including Huda, deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, 10 election commissioners, and 10 others over election irregularities with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.

The two other CECs are Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad and Kazi Habibul Awal, who presided over the 2014 and 2024 national elections.

Opposition parties allege that ballot-box stuffing took place on the night before election day in 2018 under the KM Nurul Huda-led election commission.

After the incident, the government urged people not to take the law into their own hands.

“Physically abusing an accused is illegal and a criminal offence,” the government said, adding that the former CEC was arrested in connection with a specific case.

The law enforcement agencies will identify those responsible for instigating chaos through mob action and will take appropriate steps against them, it added.

“All accused will be brought to justice in accordance with the country’s law,” it added.