BHUBANESWAR: At least seven persons including five police personnel were injured following a clash over alleged trespassing of a person into the strongroom on BJB College campus here on Friday.Police resorted to lathi-charge and carried out flag-march to disperse the crowd. Khurda Collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra, DCP Umashankar Dash and other senior officials on election duty rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
The Collector later clarified that the strongrooms on the college premises are absolutely safe and under constant CCTV watch. He said that the EVMs are in strongrooms which were sealed in presence of agents of all political parties.
The incident took place when a group of people spotted an unidentified youth near the strongroom and prevented him from entering. Stating that he was not authorised to enter the building, they attacked him.
When security personnel intervened, it led to a clash among the protestors and the police in which a generator operator and five police personnel sustained injuries.
Following the incident, the officials clarified that data entry operators were present on the ground floor of the strongroom which is to be used for tabulation and one of the staff was mistaken as a trespasser. Based on the police report, a case will be registered, said an official from Badagada police station.