The United States State Department has denounced the attack on independent candidate Ashraful Hossain in the Dhaka-17 by-poll in Bangladesh and called for an investigation into the incident.

Speaking at the regular press briefing on Monday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that this type of political violence has no place in democratic elections.

‘We encourage the Government of Bangladesh to investigate any reports of violence thoroughly, transparently, and impartially, and to hold the perpetrators of violence to account.

‘And I would say, as we have said before, that we would expect the Government of Bangladesh to hold free and fair elections, and we continue to monitor it closely,’ he said.

Ashraful, popularly known as Hero Alam, was attacked amid heavy police presence, allegedly by the supporters of ruling Awami League candidate Muhammad Ali Arafat, as he visited the Banani Bidyaniketan School and College polling station around 4:00pm.

Unofficial results from all 124 centres showed that Arafat, with the boat symbol, bagged 28,816 votes to win the polls, marked by a low turnaround and a few other irregularities.

His nearest candidate, Hero Alam, secured 5,609 votes.

The by-election took place just days after US under-secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights Uzra Zeya and assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Donald Lu visited Bangladesh.

The State Department held similar views on the attack on the house of an opposition supporter in Bangladesh’s Noakhali district after his recent heated argument with Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman in New York.

‘That type of violence that you mentioned has no place in democratic elections,’ Millar said, responding to a question on the attack on an opposition supporter’s house in Bangladesh.