KENDRAPARA/NUAPADA/KEONJHAR/ROURKELA : The first phase of panchayat elections in the coastal Kendrapara district was marred by violence while in Nuapada district of Western Odisha, a mentally-ill person set a ballot box on fire on Monday. In Keonjhar, some miscreants damaged two-wheelers of voters.
In different blocks of Kendrapara, miscreants snatched away ballot boxes from the polling officers in nine booths and dumped two of them in water bodies. They set fire to the remaining seven ballot boxes.
The BJD, BJP and Congress had fielded candidates in eight Zilla Parishad seats in the district that saw polling on Monday. The district having 2,50,439 voters saw turnout of 70 per cent.
A mob barged into the polling booth at Ramachandrapur village under Patkura police limits and took away six ballot boxes that contained the counted ballot papers. The mob also assaulted the polling staff and then set the ballot boxes on fire. Police officials rushed to the spot to restore order. The incident took place when the polling personnel were getting ready to go to Garadpur block office to deposit the ballot boxes, said Additional Superintendent of Police Bikash Chandra Dash.
In Ward 14 of Jagadalpur village within Patkura gram panchayat of Garadapur block, some miscreants dumped ballot papers and a ballot box in river Chitrotpala after snatching them away from polling officers.
Tension mounted in the village after the incident and police have been deployed to avert any untoward situation.
In Ward 12 of Bangalpur village under Garadapur block, miscreants also dumped a ballot box in a pond after election. Similarly in Ward 18 of Basdudevpur under Garadapur block, some supporters of a Ward member candidate dumped the ballot box with ballot papers in a pond.
“We have informed the State Election Commissioner about all these incidents and re-election will be held. All the accused persons will be arrested soon,” said Kanhu Charana Dhir, Sub-Collector of Kendrapara.
In Nuapada district, commotion broke out in booth 12 in Renge village of Kureshwar gram panchayat under Komna block after a mentally-ill man set a ballot box on fire.
Voting in the booth was suspended after the incident. There will be re-election in the booth following the incident. Further investigation into the matter is on.
According to reports, the mentally ill voter, identified as Jayaram Tandi, stood in queue to exercise his franchise. He had brought with him some kerosene in a bottle and when his turn came, he poured it on the ballot box and set it on fire before fleeing the spot.
On being informed, Nuapada SP Madkar Sandip Sampath rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused is mentally-ill and efforts are underway to nab him.
Sub-Collector Sarat Chandra Srichandan said action will be taken after submission of report by the presiding officer at the booth to the BDO. The BDO will submit his report to the Collector, who in turn will inform the State Election Commission. He hoped that the re-election would be held within two days.
In Keonjhar, tension gripped Patna block after police allegedly damaged the two-wheelers of voters at Rajanagar School booth. The irate people attacked a police man. Additional SP and SDPO reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
On Sunday, people of K Balipal panchayat under Hatadihi block had obstructed polling parties and staged a demonstration. They alleged that though displaced in 1978 for Hadagarh dam, they were yet to get new land patta and are still deprived of basic amenities like education, health and road communication.
In Sundargarh district, a ballot box was looted from Badadalki panchayat of Lathikata block, about 40 kms from Rourkela, on Monday evening.
Sundargarh District Panchayat Officer (DPO), Guruva Singh said around 7.30 pm, unidentified persons intercepted the four-wheeler of a four-member polling party and looted a ballot box. He said the polling party was returning from the Badadalki Nodal UP School.