12 cases filed during polls, 24 arrested for attack on poll staff

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: As many as 12 cases have been registered regarding law and order incidents during polling for the Assembly election which was held on Wednesday. On Wednesday at 12:30 pm, Malappa Hanamanthappa Yerajari, revenue sector officer of Sector No 5 of Basavana Bageadi Assembly constituency along with other staff was carrying reserve EVMs and VVPATs from Basavana Bagewadi strong room towards Masabinal in a private car.

At that time, around 100- 16=50 persons stopped their vehicle near Venkatesh Temple, Masabinal, and abused them in filthy language, dragged them out of the car, assaulted them with stones, damaged their vehicle, EVMs, and other polling materials.

After the incident, a DySP along with an additional police team rushed to the spot and tried to control the situation. At 1:30 pm, DEO and SP Vijayapura also reached the spot, lathi-charged the mob, and arrested 24 persons in this connection. The general observer and police observer also visited the place of the incident. However, the polling process was not hindered.

Chamundeshwari incident

In Chamundeshwari, a person named Shivamurthy entered Booth No 40 in the constituency to cast his vote. All of a sudden, he threw the control unit of the EVM on the floor and damaged it. The polling officers immediately replaced the control unit and voting continued without any disruption.  The accused has been handed over to police custody and a case has been registered.