3 boxes with blank ballot papers found in Ruqayyah Hall, voting suspended

Voting of DUCSU election at Ruqayyah Hall was suspended around 11:00am on Monday after students of the dormitory found three hidden ballot boxes filled with blank ballot papers.

Dhaka University pro-VC (vice-chancellor) Muhammad Samad, however, said voting at the dorm will resume at 3:00pm.

DU students alleged that the centre was supposed to have nine ballot boxes. But before the voting began, six boxes were displayed before the voters.

Later, they found three ballot boxes in a nearby room. Inside the boxes, there were fresh ballot papers hidden away. Protests erupted in Ruqayyah Hall over this and the election was suspended around 11:30am.
At one stage, DUCSU VP (vice president) candidate, Nurul Huq Nur was assaulted allegedly by some Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists at Ruqayyah Hall.

Witnesses said some BCL activists attacked and beat up Nur when he went to the hall during protests by students over alleged irregularities in the election, leaving him injured.

Ruqayyah Hall house tutor Dilara Zaman told Prothom Alo that the dorm has a total of 4,600 voters and some 2,000 ballot papers were brought initially for the voting process and the rest were kept in a room. She also said she does not know who snatched those papers.