HC stays Gazipur mayor's suspension

A government order to suspend BNP leader MA Mannan as Gazipur mayor has been halted by the High Court (HC). The judges froze the order for three months after hearing a writ petition on Sunday. The Local  Government Division had issued the order on Thursday, barely a month after Mannan returned to office following a legal battle.

Mannan was being removed because of charges pressed against him by the Anti-Corruption Commission, said the order. A vice-chairman of the BNP, Mannan was elected mayor of the Gazipur City Corporation in 2013.

He managed to return to office after facing two more suspensions that came prior to the government's latest order for his removal.

On July 6, the government suspended Mannan after the mayor took his office following a court order. Mannan took over the charge of the city mayor on June 18 last, 28 months after suspension following an order of the Supreme Court.

The GCC mayor has so far been suspended thrice, with the first suspension being on August 19, 2015 and then on April 18 last year.