Rampant anomalies like fake-balloting, lawlessness at polling centres amid overwhelming presence of ruling alliance activists and laxity of both polling officials and law enforcers marred the by-polls, said Bamasop President AHM Nouman, whose two teams observed 15 polling stations in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Farmgate, Dhaka University campus and Tejgaon areas.

At the polls, no long queue of voters was found until noon, as at best 15 percent voters turned out in those areas, Nouman noted in a written statement. While genuine voter turn out was so thin, groups of four-party alliance activists were found casting ballots time and again, he added.

The statement also said supporters of election symbol paddy sheaf were found roving about the polling centres unobstructed by law enforcers and canvassing for their candidate, while the presiding officers did not accept agents of kula symbol when they reported in the morning. Polling agents of kula were found only at one centre.

Nouman said Assistant Presiding Officer Hasnain Khan at the Bangladesh Institute of Ceramics centre had told him that the balloting was going on in an appropriate manner.

"But immediately after, Md Murad Ali, voter No 09184, alleged someone else had already cast his vote," Nouman said. "When I brought the matter to Hasnain Khan's notice, he hurriedly wrapped it up and pretended to be busy."

"Our high hope for a fair election was frustrated each time we entered a polling centre with depressing sights of irregularities," the Bamasop president said.

"The by-polls has not been free and fair," said Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, chairman of Jatiyo Nirbachon Parjobekkhan Porishad (Janipop), which has been working as an election-monitoring organisation since 1995.

No polling official seemed ready to respond when observers pointed out anomalies in the election process, he said.

The Janipop chief said excessive use of money, particularly by the two principal contenders, corroded the moral basis of the election.

In a written statement, the Janipop said the parliamentary by-election was marred by high instances of fraud -- enough to call into question the validity of its final results.

"There were simply too many instances of false voting and other interference that prevent us from calling this event free and fair," the statement cited Kalimullah as saying.

An observer of Bamasop, Babul Audhikary, told The Daily Star he found supporters of the ruling alliance candidate active in front of a magistrate and plainclothesmen inside the polling centre at Bangladesh Institute of Ceramics, all of whom were sharing lunch packets among themselves.

"When I wanted to know his name, the magistrate said it was not required," Babul said.

False balloting was a dominant feature of the election, said Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) in a press statement signed by its Director Nasrin Ahmed.

The BHRC observers found environment at the polling centres peaceful, free of violence, but reported a thin turnout of voters. They found no queue of voters at Ispahani College centre in Moghbazar where only 20 percent of the votes were cast until 1:00pm.

The number of ruling alliance supporters far surpassed that of genuine voters in and around most of the centres, the statement said, adding genuine voters were far less in number than the votes cast.

Not more than 35 percent voters took part in the election, it noted.

The commission asked the government to retake the by-polls, as voters' presence was less than 40 percent. It also recommended introduction of voter identity card immediately, revision of election laws and codes, and empowerment of the Election Commission.