A faction of BNP leaders, activists and supporters marched with brooms in Ishwardi municipality of Pabna on Sunday evening, protesting the formation of upazila and municipal BNP committees that included convicted accused individuals. Supporters of former Ishwardi municipal BNP general secretary Zakaria Pintu and grassroots activists demanded cancellation of Imrul Kayes Sumon’s appointment as member secretary of the municipal committee and chanted slogans against the Pabna district BNP leadership’s decision.

Court sources said Sumon was sentenced on August 6 by Pabna’s First Joint Sessions Judge M. Sarwar Jahan to one year of simple imprisonment and a Tk10 lakh fine in a Tk10 lakh cheque dishonour case filed by Abdul Mannan Tipu. As he was absent when the verdict was delivered, a warrant was issued. Party sources said he was appointed municipal member secretary 10 days later and attended an August 20 BNP organisational meeting in Gulshan, Dhaka.

Sumon denied wrongdoing, saying the case involved longstanding business transactions and that he had not known about the verdict. District BNP member secretary Maksudur Rahman Masud Khandakar said the party had not received a complaint and would need to examine whether the case was conspiratorial. He added that convicted people cannot hold leadership roles under the party constitution.