Video of Money Changing Hands at a Gambling Session Goes Viral, Controversy over Tungipara’s Acting Chairman
A video of money changing hands at a gambling session of Nizam Sheikh, acting chairman of Dumuria Union Parishad in Tungipara, Gopalganj, has spread on the social media platform Facebook. Discussion and criticism over the video is going on across the upazila.
On 17 October, the video was posted from a Facebook page called ‘Khabor Tungipara’. In the video, several people including the union parishad chairman are seen talking about money transactions for playing ludo gambling. Since then, questions have been raised in various quarters about the matter.
The accused Nizam Sheikh is the acting chairman of Dumuria Union Parishad in Tungipara upazila. He is the son of the late Sarwar Sheikh of Pakurtia village. Anger has been created among local people after a video of such activities of a public representative came out into the open.
In the video, Nizam Sheikh is heard saying, ‘Why should I pay 100 taka?’ A person beside him says, ‘You lost, you will pay 200 taka. I will get what is owed to me from the chairman from before. The chairman and I both lost playing gambling together.’
Nizam Sheikh later said, ‘This is why one should not play with small fry.’ In reply, the person said, ‘That day I had a loss, I will not be able to pay.’ At one stage the person told the chairman, ‘Go, you do not have to pay your 100 taka.’
Nizam Sheikh later said, ‘That day I played five singles at 250 each. He got cheated; afterwards you and I did not play.’ Another person beside him said, ‘When you and I played singles, we paid both people’s money.’ In reply Nizam Sheikh said, ‘No, I paid 500 taka.’ Later another person said, ‘He took your money too, and he took my money too.’ Many believe that it is clear from this conversation in the video that the game was played for money.
When asked about the video of the ludo gambling transactions, chairman Nizam Sheikh gave no statement. On the contrary, it has been alleged that he issued threats invoking the name of SM Jilani, MP for Gopalganj-3 constituency. This has increased the controversy further.
Ayub Ali, the officer-in-charge of Tungipara Police Station, said, ‘I have seen the video on social media. Necessary measures will be taken after discussion with higher authorities.’
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Didarul Alam said, ‘Any game played for money is an offence. I came to know about the matter through journalists. The matter will be investigated and measures will be taken in accordance with the rules.’
The upazila administration has said the matter will be investigated and measures taken according to the rules. Now the eyes of local people are on the result of the investigation and the administration’s steps — what action is ultimately taken on this allegation against a public representative is the thing to see.
