NILPHAMARI — The chairman of Chandkhana Union Parishad in Kishoreganj upazila has been running the council from hiding for nearly a year, leaving residents struggling to obtain trade licenses, birth certificates and other civic services, officials and locals said.
Documents requiring the chairman’s signature are routinely sent to him through a village police officer, who returns them signed. While a village court technically operates on paper, the office building remains shut, residents said.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, the rooms used by the chairman, secretary, council members and the village court were all locked between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Only the office assistant and computer operator’s room was open.
The chairman, Mostafizar Rahman Jadu Mia, is also president of the union Awami League and was elected on the party’s boat symbol. He went into hiding after the previous government fell and has not appeared at the council in a year, residents said. He also has been absent from upazila council monthly meetings and law-and-order sessions for about eight months.
Ekramul, a resident living near the council office, said the chairman’s absence had caused hardship. “People who come from far away looking for service are sent to Burirhat to find the chairman,” he said.
Abdul Wahab, the village police officer, confirmed he takes documents to the chairman for signature. “The secretary gives me the papers and I get them signed,” he said.
Morshedul Haque, the accounts assistant and computer operator, initially denied the chairman’s absence but later acknowledged it. He said civic services continued and that no village court session was held that day because cases were in mediation.
The council secretary, Anwara Begum, said the chairman came occasionally and that residents with urgent needs were directed to his private office in Burirhat.
Pritom Saha, the upazila executive officer, said he had received no formal complaints. “I do not recall meeting that chairman so far,” he said. “It is mandatory for the chairman and council members to be present during office hours. We are looking into why the office stays closed and why he is not present.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report