Huda, 77, was arrested after mob assaulted him outside his Uttara residence. (image-X/ECISVEEP)

Dhaka: Former Bangladesh Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) K M Nurul Huda was arrested on Sunday on charges of manipulating national elections during his tenure. According to election officials, this is probably the first time that a former CEC has been detained over issues related to elections.

The arrest follows a case filed by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, against Huda and 18 others, including ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accusing them of conducting elections “without the people’s mandate” in 2014, 2018, and 2024. Hasina had won the elections in all three years.

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The dramatic arrest came after Huda, 77, was assaulted by a mob outside his residence in the Uttara locality of Dhaka. According to the police, the group forcibly entered his home, dragged him out, and physically assaulted him before the police intervened.  

Shocking videos of the attack, widely circulated on social media, showed the former election chief being beaten with shoes, pelted with eggs, and garlanded with footwear while being verbally abused. Even after police arrived at the scene, the mob reportedly continued its assault. 

Police later confirmed that Huda was taken into protective custody and would be presented before the court. “We went to the scene after being informed that a mob had surrounded Mr. Huda. We have brought him into our custody,” said Hafizur Rahman, chief of Uttara West police station. 

In a late-night statement, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, who heads the interim government formed after Hasina’s ouster, condemned the mob violence. “The mob-created unruly situation and the physical assault on the accused has drawn the government’s attention. The government urges citizens not to take the law into their hands,” the statement read, warning of strict action against such vigilantism. 

Yunus assumed leadership after massive student-led protests in August last year led to the fall of Hasina’s Awami League government. The former Prime Minister fled to India, while many of her ministers and senior officials were either arrested or fled the country. 

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Over recent months, several of Hasina’s allies have faced mob attacks, including inside court premises. In February, protesters demolished the former residence of Bangladesh’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – now a memorial museum – using bulldozers.

Huda, who served as CEC during three consecutive general elections, is accused by opposition leaders of enabling electoral fraud and suppressing dissent.