Violence disrupts voting in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur
Violence disrupts voting in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur
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Jagatsinghpur: Despite the DGP's assurances that the second round of the three-tier panchayat elections would be calm, poll-related violence was recorded throughout the district.
According to sources, some miscreants disrupted the polling process in Patasara panchayat in Jagatsinghpur block's zilla parishad zone I.
While voters waited in line at booths 1 and 2 to exercise their right to vote, miscreants forcibly entered the room and caused a commotion. At both locations, they ransacked the polling booths and vandalised the polling supplies and furniture. In addition, the ballot box in Booth 1 was removed.
Senior district officials raced to the scene after receiving the information to get the situation under control. The miscreants fled as district collector Parul Patwari, additional collector Sachidanand Sahu, SP Akhileswar Singh, BDO Sagar Nand, tehsildar Anjali Tarai, and other authorities arrived.
The district election officer, who is also the collector, issued an order to halt the voting process until normalcy was restored.
"The agent of a candidate, Debasish Rout, came to the booth about 45 minutes," the SP told the media. The ballot box had been sealed and voting had begun by this time. The agent requested that the presiding officer reopen and seal the ballot box in his presence. The agent and his companions misbehaved with the presiding officer when he refused to do so."
He went on to say that the agents and his men looted the booths and smashed one of the voting boxes. They then moved on to a nearby booth, where they removed the ballot box.
He stated that the police have opened an inquiry into the matter and that action will be taken against those engaged in the incident after the investigation is completed.
On Thursday night, three miscreants halted a police van in Raibarei village, Jagatsinghpur block, and attacked the officers who were patrolling.
It should be mentioned that during the first phase of the election on Wednesday, there were violent occurrences in various parts of the district.
